


Ink - Nina Knight and the Story of Venom

by FrightKnight



Category: Deadpool (Movieverse), Deadpool - All Media Types, Venom (Comics), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Awkward Encounters of the Third Kind, Awkward Flirting, Developing Friendships, Eddie Brock Needs A Hug, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/F, F/M, Foiled Confessions, Friendship/Love, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, If Flash from Zootopia were a Fanfic this would be it, Mild Gore, Multi, Near Death Experiences, POV First Person, POV Original Character, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Sneaky Symbiotes Doing Sneaky Things, Someone Gets Punched in the Throat, Symbiotic Relationship, Violence, Y'all know anything about accurate timelines?, cause i sure don't, it's a good time, thanks marvel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-12
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-07-11 06:55:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 34,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15967040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrightKnight/pseuds/FrightKnight
Summary: You ever make some really terrible decisions while in college? I did. In fact, I, Nina Knight, made A LOT of bad decisions. Like I almost died decisions. I actually think I did die... But that's not the point. The point is you're about to hear the story about how I somehow became a member of the x-men and the chaotic journey I traveled to get there.





	1. Beginning

You know, it's not every day that something happens that completely flips your life upside down like the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Hell, I wish my situation could have been half as cool as his was, and to some it probably is.  
But that wasn't the case for me, at least not currently.  
I would have gladly taken a hard reset on life and gotten relocated to my rich family where we constantly broke the fourth wall during our family shenanigans.  
Instead, I was currently screaming over someone's entrails hitting my face. Not just anyone, someone I really looked up to.

  
Like, a lot.

  
But that's not where this story starts.

  
It starts where most terrible situations are born: **College**.

* * *

 

  
It was late. I had been burning the midnight oil in my dorm for hours, you know, doing the thing that every college student did to themselves: Say we were going to get things done and doing everything in our power to do the exact opposite until it was time to panic. My eyes stung with exhaustion as I looked back and forth from my laptop screen to the canvas I had been scribbling across for the last few hours. The schematics of a poorly thought out sledgehammer were finally coming into better focus. Why I was dedicating so much time to this I couldn't tell you, but it gave me something to do while I listened to a news reporter drone on in the background while I dodged my actual work.

  
_"Irene Maryweather with WHIT17 live with breaking news at the Essex House for Mutant Rehabilitation. A mutant boy seems to be having some sort of incident with policemen behind me..."_ she droned on. I had listened to this video dozens of times, it was a real hot topic even though said incident had happened months ago. The boy in question, who looked a bit heftier and no older than 15, wore an expression of fear and rage on his face as he forced policemen back with his fists that radiated heat. I felt kind of bad for him, he looked like a trapped animal.

  
_"Stay back! I'll burn you-"_ His threats were suddenly cut off from my headphones and I jumped as a hand appeared next to me holding the cord, my confusion quickly turning into regret. Uh oh.

  
"Did you really stay up all night again watching these, Nina?" a groggy voice accused and I gave an embarrassed smile in return. There, holding my cord hostage stood my best friend, college roommate and overall bad influencer Bambi Sparks. I couldn't make up a cooler name if I tried, except for her sisters, Benni Sparks, who stayed in the dorm next to us.  
She ran her hands through her hair, flecks of hot pink from her bangs peeking through her blonde locks as she gave an exasperated sigh. My attention slowly drifted back to the video playing, feeling my cheeks grow warm as the reason I continued to watch this clip so many times came onto the screen.

  
We watched as the reporter was interrupted by the sound of a jet engine dying in the distance. The cameraman swiveled himself clumsily from the scene of the destroyed debris the boy had caused to focus on said jet, a trio quickly descending to join in on the chaotic scene; A teen donning a sick haircut and a coat to go with it that went by the longest name I've ever heard, a man who went by the name of Deadpool who donned a red and black suit and a mask that looked like it fit like a condom, and _him_. The metal unit of a man that looked like he ate bullets for breakfast.

  
"There's your guuuy~" Bambi cooed into my ear as she wrapped her arms around me, making me squirm in embarrassment. My face grew warmer as the camera tilted up to get a shot of the giant walking past him. He had to be at least 7 feet tall, his features were stern and focused forward as he walked past, steely skin shining brightly in the sun and I groaned.

  
"Stooop..." I frowned as I dragged my hands over my face and gave a soft sigh. I had never been big on news reports, especially ones on such a messy topic as mutant crimes and children, but seeing this man that I had super-sleuthed my way into knowing -thanks to Google- had gotten me hooked back into finding anything out that I could. I was in deep.

  
He went by Colossus, but his real name was Piotr Rasputin. When he wasn't being a superhero he taught at Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Learning, a sanctuary for mutants who wanted to feel safe while also honing their skills to help make a better tomorrow. I had met Xavier himself years ago on my own tour of the school with my parents. He was very nice and _very_ bald. The school itself had been created in his families estate and transformed into the bustling safe haven that it now was, when it wasn't getting blown up by the villain of the week at least. I was envious because I had always wanted to enroll but my parents didn't want a possible burnt corpse for a daughter. How selfish.

  
As if reading my thoughts Bambi frowned and took one of my hands in hers, inspecting my inky black fingertips with thoughtful blue eyes.

  
"You could easily get that baby train started just by going there and introducing yourself," she reasoned. I frowned deeply and looked away, unable to show her that she succeeded in making the worst metaphor to sex I had heard in a long time.

  
"You know I can't. It's too late for me to go there...But also, please don't _ever_ use baby and train together again."

  
"Oh I'm sorry, do they have a cut-off age for mutants who want to meet others like them?" she smirked, completely disregarding my request. I rolled my eyes.

  
And so we meet the elephant in the room, because I'm sure you're all wondering why I'm talking about this to begin with. My name is Nina Knight, I'm 25 years old, a Taurus that likes long walks on the beach and I'm a mutant that can control ink. It's cool in theory, right? In reality, it's a giant mess when I don't have control over it, but luckily that was something that didn't happen often.

  
"It's a school, Bam. It's not a dating site."

  
"No entry for thotty girls that just want to get it on with professors?"

  
"Stop!" I snickered. Our attention was brought back to the screen as a gunshot fired. I winced. There it was, the shot that inevitably started controversy across the nation.  
While his reasons were later proven valid, we had all seen Deadpool place a bullet in one of the orderlies live on television after confronting the teen now known as Firefist. During their detainment in the Ice Box tensions were raised against mutants as they were deemed too volatile to be left to their own devices, a red flag for many including myself. Soon after though it was revealed that the rehabilitation center was, in fact, torturing children in hopes of ridding them of their powers. It was safe to say awkward didn't begin to describe that situation, but damn if it wasn't satisfying to watch unfold.

  
We now watched as Deadpool and the teen were carried away and Colossus was left to pick up the pieces of his recent actions, handsome features now furrowed with stress as he attempted to save the face of Xavier's School.

  
_"...and here we have the leader of the X-Men Trainee Task Force, Colossus, joining us to explain earlier events. Can you tell us anything that may have caused this violent outburst?"_ the reporter asked gravely as he rubbed his brow with his fingers delicately like he was still trying to figure it out himself.  
He had given a heavy sigh before speaking; _"Deadpool has...been through many bad times recently. I was wrong to think he was ready for field duty."_ he confessed in a grim tone, like he was convincing both himself and the news of his honest mistake. While I just wanted to marvel over that Russian accent of his I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him at that moment, like I did every time I heard this interview. After the incident, the X-Men and Xavier's school had gotten severe backlash while Deadpool laid low after making a public announcement that he was right from the start and everyone could blow him. Charming, honestly. Despite this, I was still finding articles of whatever X-Squad of the week decided to risk their lives to save citizens in danger. They really couldn't catch a break.

  
Bambi sighed and removed herself from my grasp, her curvy figure sauntering over to our treasure trove of caffeinated delights to begin her morning routine. "I'm glad they caught the real assholes in this situation, but man what a mess."

  
"Ah, yeah..." I agreed softly, my curiosity getting the best of me as I watched her turn on our holy Keurig, our Lord and savior that fueled our agonizing study nights with coffee. "Why are you making coffee, it's only like 4." I questioned finally after yawning and stood to stretch, my bones protesting in agony from sitting like a pretzel in a desk chair for the last 3 hours.

  
She looked at me and scoffed. "Are you joking? It's almost 7."

  
"It _what_?"

  
I checked my clock. She was right. I rubbed my forehead and grumbled at my own stupidity.

  
"Do you have classes today?" she asked like some kind of disappointed parent as I removed my glasses from my face and plopped down on my bed. I shook my head and looked out the window next to me to be greeted with the sun rising to laugh at my poor decisions. We lived on campus at one of Brooklynn's most prestigious art colleges -they're words, not mine- in a dorm that I was still convinced was for ants. Bambi had almost immediately opted out of the bed by the window out of fear of waking up to someone staring at her. I, however, was willing to risk the possibility for the view it gave into the peaceful walkway around the campus because college was expensive and already made me feel like I was dead. What else was there to lose?

  
"No class, I'm working tonight though if you wanna tag along. Free food~" I added as an incentive bonus and her head whipped around to face me.

  
"You had me at free."

  
"Spoken like a true friend. I will see you at 6." I added with a lazy thumbs up before closing my burning eyes, sleep creeping on me faster than I could avoid it. The smell of coffee being made kept my thoughts awake as I listened, Bambi's soft steps growing nearer before I felt a hand rest softly on my leg.

  
"You know," she started before giving my thigh a firm squeeze, "It's never too late, Nina Bobina. Especially not for someone with the sick skills you've got."

  
I grumbled. I knew she was right, but I still couldn't bring myself to agree and go, not even for the chance to meet Colossus. Something in me couldn't shake the fact that I had wasted the potential I once had to become a hero. All the training I did with my parents for so many years had led to a brief hero career and then I snuffed myself out, now I was scrambling in college to find any sort of inspiration to keep myself going, but how could I tell Bambi that?

  
"Thanks..." I managed to mumble softly before she gave me another squeeze. I cracked one eye open to see a mischievous smile on her lips before her next words.  
"It's also not too late to get some Colossal di-"

  
"L E A V E! Get OUTTA here!" I cried before shoving my face into my pillow and sighing with embarrassment. When I said she was a bad influence, I meant it. My stomach was in knots even thinking of something like that remotely happening and she knew it. I listened to her cackle off to our bathroom to prepare for her day, while I had planned to end mine in the land of sleeping idiots.

  
Now that I look back on it I was grateful for that peaceful moment of rest because after what happened later on, God was I going to need it.  


 


	2. A Terrible Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nina decides she's ready to take on being a hero again until she becomes involved in a terrifying, and fatal, encounter.

The first thing I heard when I awoke from my sleep coma was soft snickering nearby; faint but familiar. I opened my eyes slowly to be greeted with the sun setting over the campus grounds, fear immediately taking over as I realized I had never set an alarm for work.  _My boss was going to kill me._

I shot up and scrambled for my glasses, mind buzzing in a million directions before a tan slender hand held them out in front of me. 

 

"Relax, princesa. You didn't miss work." the familiar voice that had previously been laughing now mused as my eyes focused, meeting the green-eyed gaze of the beautiful woman before me. Her name was Suzi Bravo; a powerhouse of knowledge, master of athletics and a lover of German beers. Not to mention my former ex-girlfriend and current best friend. How she at one point saw anything in a gremlin like me was still one of the great mysteries of the world, but I'm glad whatever it was left us with the friendship we had now.

I gave a sigh of relief as I saw the time before catching her eyeing me up and down, a judgemental shrug following. "You really slept in your clothes?"

"People do that." I yawned in response, unwilling to admit I had just been too tired and lazy to even consider changing before passing out. I slumped forward and felt her gently run her hands through my unruly bed head before I felt the sharp cold sensation hit the back of my neck. I screamed and shot up, the room erupting with laughter as my brain tried to process what had happened. Next to me stood Benni, Bambi's older sister and resident lurker of the shadows with a cold Starbucks drink in hand, a devious smile painted on her face. Unlike Bambi, Benni had the physique of an adorable tattoo covered beanpole, only beat in height of Suzi, who towered over us all at 5'10.

"Was that a good wake up call or what?" Benni grinned as I accepted the concoction of sugar and caffeine blended down into a delicious frappe eagerly.

I turned away from them and grumbled.

"Or what." I responded bluntly before I drifted to my wardrobe, trying to avoid the devastating state it was in as unfolded clothes threatened to topple out. I cautiously fished out a hoodie and some leggings to change into for work before disappearing into our bathroom. It was a conjoined area that linked our dorms together but also made it a battle of the bitches if more than one of us had to use the restroom or shower. Again, this was a dorm for ants. Luckily it had been more than a year that we had been grouped with each other and despite everything, including a night of food poisoning between the four of us thanks to Benni's cooking, we made it work. We were an awkward family of art majors and an architect that didn't have any concept of time other than 'why is the sun up already' and I wouldn't change it for the world.

 

I stared at myself in the mirror and frowned. I looked like I had hit every branch on the hot mess tree falling down. I quickly stripped off my clothes from the day before, staring down at a body that once used to rival Suzi's athletic figure but now resettled into a fluffy memory of what used to be. It's not like I didn't work out still, food was just delicious and I was now a victim of the college zombie plague.

"Nina if you're done staring at yourself we gotta go soon!" Bambi called from our room. I scowled. If I didn't know any better I'd be convinced that she had her own mutant power that was just being able to read me like an open book.  


I slipped my clothes on hastily, still trying to wake up and sighed as I looked at the front, wishing desperately that I read my clothes before selecting them. **Hangover** **Hoodie** was sprawled in big white blocky text over the front. Good going, Nina. My unwillingness to face the abyss that was my wardrobe once more overruled my objections to find something more presentable. I took to brushing my unruly black hair and fixed my bangs, blue streaks of hair falling over my sight before I pushed them aside to quickly drag my finger over my eyelids. Perks of having ink for a power: I got to be the laziest son of a gun when it came to makeup and no one knew the wiser.

"I'm ready, I'm ready!" I huffed moments later as I popped out, fishing around for my belongings clumsily around the room: Bag hanging over my chair, phone buried haphazardly in my blankets, helmets for my Vespa sitting comfy on the heads of our plushies, and keys dangerously close to falling somewhere I would never see them again. _God, how did I live like this?_

I looked up and the three were staring at me like they were asking themselves the exact same question. "L-let's go..."

"You're gonna wear _that_ to work?" Suzi questioned, eyeing my hoodie with a frown. I laughed sheepishly. There was no winning with her.

"Do you really think the professor cares what a delivery girl wears?"

"True. I envy that..." Benni admitted softly. While she currently worked from home her professors almost always demanded their students dress presentable, and if you knew Benni like we did, she was anything but. Even now she stood in a mixture of a band tee, striped pajama bottoms, and sandals. She was a disaster of a fashion icon and I loved it.

"You're both free to join us. Bambi needs company while I do deliveries." I offered but was quickly dismissed by the two. Suzi ran a hand through her fiery red mane and smirked.

"Pass. Benni's got a late class so I got both rooms to myself tonight. You know what's about to go down." Suzi smirked. I shared a dead-eyed stare with the sisters before looking back at Suzi who could no longer contain herself. "I'm STUDYING, degeneras! You really think architect majors got time for that? Bye."

She wasn't wrong. That was partially the reason we separated to begin with. While I had my nose to the grindstone at night with graphic design studies, she was burning the candle at both ends to keep up her dedication to track meets and keeping a 4.0 GPA. I don't know how she did it, I still don't and frankly, I'm too scared to ask at this point. We almost never saw each other the 3 months we did date and finally opted to just stay friends instead, something neither of us regretted.

"Just don't do anything in my bed, Red." I teased before waving them goodbye, her smile big with mischief at my request.

"No promises," she called back with a small smirk before we departed, heading out onto the campus.

The air was cooling now that the sun was quickly descending, and even though spring had finally sprung I still found myself wishing I had brought something warmer for the ride over. We soon stood in front of my Vespa sitting pretty on the side of the street and piled ourselves on. I couldn't have asked for a better parting gift from my parents for college, this baby got me everywhere I needed to be and then some.

"Ready?" I called to Bambi, feeling her nod against my shoulder. I slid my helmet and goggles on and tucked my glasses away in my bag, unwilling to deal with the wind in my eyes as we rode. While it wasn't too far of a trip by foot to my work, being all the way across campus meant it was a bit of a distance to get to. In 15 minutes time, we arrived at an ordinary looking business building only a few stories high. We began to gather our items and I scowled as I removed my helmet, feeling my hair go in every which direction but its desired spot. Bambi snorted.

"Hey. Is that why you wear that mark on your face?" she asked suddenly as I removed my goggles and blinked.

"What?"

"That line you have."

I looked at my Vespas mirror and frowned. I had completely forgotten that I usually had a habit of lining my goggles with ink thinking it would prevent the gross red marks I got from them and make me look cool. Instead, I looked like a huge dork.

"I...yeah...It looks stupid, huh?" I laughed as I brought my glasses to my face, trying to hide my embarrassment, but Bambi wasn't having it.

"No no, keep it! It's a cool look!" she protested as she grabbed my hand that was ready to make the embarrassing line disappear. I shrugged. If there was something I never questioned it was Bambi's judgment, for better or for worse. Usually better, but she was honest and that's what I appreciated most about her.

I obeyed her wishes and we stood before a techier looking door hiding amongst the row of office buildings. My fingers toyed around with the key card I had retrieved from my bag and held it up to the door, a small beep letting us know we could pass through. Inside it was quiet, dim lights humming softly above that guided us to the upper levels which I had never ventured, and lower levels which led to labs of different sorts.

"We've been coming here for months and that still weirds me out..." Bambi whispered as we started down a flight of stairs, another beep alerting their arrival. We rounded a corner and I spotted a white lab coat through the large glass windows beside us. I pressed my face against it and knocked softly to get their attention. Nothing.

"I know right?" I agreed, finally giving up my goofy acts and poked my head through the sliding door a few feet away. The tall figure that had been doing their best to ignore me now had with their back turned to us looking lost in thought, a board filled with god knows what type of equations in front of him. I grinned.

"Penny for your thoughts, Professor?" I called as we stepped in, a blast of cold air greeting us the farther we stepped in. There was a small noise of interest and he turned, local restaurant menus clutched in hand as the real reason for his concentration came into view.

"What do we want for dinner tonight? I'm thinking Thai."

And here I thought he was actually doing his job.

His name was Professor Stoma, a mysterious man who offered me a mysterious job to deliver some very mysterious packages to some very mysterious customers who happened to tip very well. As a broke college student,  _I had no_ _complaints_. We had met last fall after he caught me using my powers to cheat on an exam that I had had no intention of studying, like the responsible student I was. Instead of being reprimanded like I had thought he took me under his wing claiming he 'wasn't an enemy of mutants, and I was an intriguing subject that could aid his studies'. I was apprehensive as hell in the beginning. He was strange and I wasn't keen on others knowing my powers, but he was honest in his words. He even had my parents meet him before we went any further with his studies to show his intentions were good. We spent a lot of nights after that trying to find methods to try and aid mutants struggling with their own traits, while other nights were shooting the shit and working on our own personal projects. All in all, it was a good job and I had made a very important friend from it.

The three of us now hovered over a Thai menu inspecting its delights before settling on our meals, a firm nod coming from Stoma before he fished in his lab coat for his wallet, pulling out a shiny new card moments later. My eyes gleamed with mischief as I went to grab it but he quickly moved it out of my reach.

"For food ONLY." he frowned, catching on quickly. I shrugged and shot a teasing glance at Bambi, who had taken to removing her schoolwork from her bag before rejoining me at the door, smirking as she joined in on the fun.

"So like, only one hooker and a little blow this time. Got it."

"Nina-"

"Sorry boss. Gotta give clients what they want." I teased before he turned his back to us, refusing to play our games any longer.

As we ventured back out into the open to pick up our meals I couldn't stop myself from thinking back again to Bambi's earlier reassurance. It _wasn't_ too late to pick back up on being a hero...was it? Or at least visit the school to see where I could help, _if_ I could help. Stoma's endeavors to make even one mutant feel more welcome in this world always inspired me to do more and yet...

Bambi punched my arm gently as if sensing my doubt and smiled.

"What's on your mind, my little squidling?" she cooed. I squinted at her.

"You think you got a funny ha-ha joke, huh? First of all, that's mutantist-"

"Is that even a thing?"

"Work with me here. Secondly, I'm older than you."

"Ooh by a whole 3 years, you sure got me there. Now what's the deal?" she mused as we arrived at the hole in the wall restaurant Thai Delights, the area around us immediately filled with the delicious savory aroma of meals being prepared. We had been coming here on and off since I had started working for the professor, as it was close by and the food was always top notch, a combination I could not argue with.

Before I could air my stresses a small old man shot up from his chair behind the register, face beaming as he recognized us.

"Pinky and the Brain!" he announced, our faces growing red. He had been calling us this for months and at this point we couldn't tell this man, who was so proud of his funny nickname, our actual names.

"Hi, Basil! Did Stoma call in yet?" I asked warmly. We never learned his real name either, he wanted us to call him that because well, he just really liked basil. Also making nicknames for everyone. He was a delightful old man.

"Oh, yes! One moment, one moment," he mumbled softly and disappeared behind a curtained area briefly and I turned back to Bambi, ready to finish my earlier thoughts.

"I was thinking a bit more on what you said earlier...Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to visit Professor Xavier about picking back up on things."

Her eyes widened in surprise at the sudden suggestion and smiled, pulling me in for a warm hug. She had been egging me on to do this ever since I expressed my interest in fighting crime after so many years of avoiding it. Also my number one supporter other than my parents, why not finally try to indulge them after so long and prove to myself that I could do it?

"I know you probably want to do this for other _personal_ reasons too, but this is big!" she grinned, raising a brow at her own joke. I scowled and turned away from her. No one had to know I had ulterior motives that involved meeting a giant metal man for my reasoning, just that I wanted to do it. It had been 5 years since I had tried anything remotely heroic with my powers, I had no idea if I was ready to even consider it but at least I had to try.

Moments later Basil re-emerged holding 2 large bags and an additional smaller colorfully wrapped bag on top.

"A gift from Mrs. Basil for little Leviathan!" he answered our curious eyes and I let out a small 'awe'. Leviathan was the professor's pet cuttlefish, the smallest cutest creature I had ever set eyes on. He was well known to Basil after Professor Stoma began coming to him for raw shrimp to feed him for his meals. He had grown so enamored with the mollusk that he had little drawings of him on his menu board like a tiny little mascot. Like I said, he was delightful.

We paid and said our thanks yous and goodbyes before heading out, ready to feast on the delicious meals prepared before they grew cold from the journey back.

That's when it happened.

"Watch out!" I shouted as a piece of car debris flew out of the air and skidded directly where we had just stood, arm instinctively hovering over Bambi's chest in an attempt to back her away. My muscles tensed with fear as a violent roar echoed in the air, screams of panic following shortly after.

"What the hell was that?" Bambi whispered shakily, our gaze turning to the commotion not too far away in the middle of the street. Billows of smoke prevented us from seeing what it was, but I _knew_ it was bad.

"I...I don't know." I stammered, my legs pulling me forward while others ran past. _What was I doing??_ I wanted to help, but my shaking hands told me to turn the other way and get out of there. Then the perpetrator came into view.

A hulking mass of a black creature that released another hair-raising roar as it attempted to stabilize itself from whatever, or whoever, had attacked him. It was immediately brought back down as a smaller figure donned in a skin-tight red and blue bodysuit came crashing down on his chest. My eyes grew wide with awe.

"Is that Captain America?!" Bambi gasped behind and I turned to stare at her. I knew she wasn't as big of a hero buff as I was but...really? Was she being serious right now?

"That...That's Spiderman! Are you serious?" I finally answered, an exasperated sigh leaving me as I tried not to judge her in such a dire time. I hadn't been a hardcore stan of Spiderman in the least but he _was_ the hero of New York, the one everyone looked to when times were tough. At least he was for a while until he fell off the face of the earth. Right as I had gotten into the world of his motivational spiels and endeavors of fighting he all but vanished, it was suddenly once again a time where catching him on camera was like spotting a legendary pokemon. The only speculation people had at the time were 'maybe he just needed a break', and I really couldn't argue with that after I had done just the same, but it still riddled my thoughts every now and then on why he would just leave.

We looked back to see him attempt to wrangle the giant monster before being flung off like he was nothing, a wince escaping both of us before Bambi began fishing around furiously for something in her bag.

"This is definitely not looking good for him..." she murmured before pulling out a chunky looking camera, setting down her things to start taking photos.

"Are you serious right now?" I repeated, her face lost in concentration and completely ignoring my judgemental stare.

"Sorry, Spiderman viewings are big!"

"You didn't even know who that was 2 seconds ago!" I cried before she gave a soft shrug, eyes immediately growing wide before she took her free hand and grabbed my chin, swiveling my head to look forward. While Spiderman was doing his best to drive the creature away from civilians another masked figure popped up from behind a destroyed car and fired shots off. A red and black masked figure that I was very familiar with that was now picking a wedgie from his ass. My jaw went slack.

It was Deadpool.

" _No fucking way..._ " I whispered in amazement. My brain felt ready to burst from what was happening. I wanted to scream and fangirl over this double sighting but stopped myself, continuing to watch the chaos unfold. Deadpool was immediately tossed into Spiderman like a bowling ball and we released a sharp inhale at the sight. Bambi punched my arm and pointed at them with excitement gleaming in her eyes. I hated what she said next.

"You gotta get in there!"

"Excuse me?" I blinked, looking back at the towering black mass that continued to kick their asses to Timbuktu. What was I going to do to that thing they didn't already try? Where were the Avengers during this?? They were always destroying the city, but helping with tall, black and monstrous? Apparently, we were on our own.

"Nina," she started. Uh oh, I was in for it now. "You were _just_ talking about wanting to look back into doing some heroic things. This is a sign! I know that the past has been holding you back but look at them. They need help and you have the skill, I've seen it! You can be that hero!"

My face grew red at her motivational boost. Bambi was a monster, not only was she a bad influence but she was an inspiring one too. She should have gone into politics.

"Ahh shit. You're right..." after a long pause. This was stupid, god I knew this was stupid, but they needed help.

"Damn right I am." she grinned and continued taking shots as I dropped my belongings to prepare.

I grumbled through pursed lips as my hands covered my eyes and forehead, ink seeping from my fingertips and covering them in a makeshift half mask. As if sensing what I was going to do my heart began pounding with anxiety, unwilling to relax. Trying desperately to ignore it I pulled out a long roll of paper from my bag before unraveling it onto the pavement, the hastily inked sledgehammer from earlier in the morning revealing itself before I pulled it off the sheet. Within seconds a 3D version of the drawing that was once there was now resting in my hands. 

" _That's_ what you were working on this morning??" Bambi gasped as I gave it a hefty practice swing. It was heavy, but would it be enough?

I nodded at her question and gave a sheepish smile. "Watching videos of silver studs isn't the only thing I do all night."

I had loads of these for emergencies and practice. A skill I had been working on for a long time had practically turned me into a walking 3D ink printer, only they weren't super durable and you could smell me a mile away because of the strong inky scent it gave off. But hey, a weapon was a weapon and there was no better time like a crisis to test it out. That's what I was trying to convince myself at least.

"Hopefully it's good enough..." I murmured nervously as I tied my hair back into a hasty ponytail. I yelped as Bambi slapped my butt, my legs instantly starting forward at the surprise attack like a startled horse.

"You look cool as hell, now go show us what you're made of!" she grinned before I gave a worried smile. Seeing this she revealed her mischevious grin and added: "Maybe DP will give you some hot deets on your tin can man if you do good!"

"BAM NOT IN PUBLIC!" I begged, tripping over myself before I brought my slow unsure jog to a steady run. I was off to a _great_ start. My confidence slowly rose with each step in an attempt to try and escape Bambi's laughter in the distance.

_Okay Nina, we're gonna do this, we were going to kick ass and it was going to be great._

This was my mantra as I stood a few feet away from the looming creature and then realized, wow, maybe this _wasn't_ a good idea. I looked back at Bambi who shot me an encouraging thumbs up before whipping my head back after another roar was released in front of me. It was now holding a protesting Spiderman in its monstrous hand like he was a ragdoll, ready to snap his neck like a toothpick.

It was now or never, Nina. Come on!

**"HEY, IVAN OOZE!"**

I spoke before I could think, my body immediately freezing as it reared it's face at me and snarled, a terrifying row of sharp teeth greeting my gaze.

Oh fuck.

I had to act fast before my courage could escape. I summoned all the strength I could to break free of my fear paralysis and swung my hammer in its direction hard, making direct contact with its face-

**and immediately shattering.**

OH FUCK **.  
**

It took me a moment to process what happened, looking at the pieces of my weapon on the pavement and back up to the creature who now looked downright pissed. I held my hands up and gave a weak smile before turning heel and letting horror wash over my face as I attempted to start back to Bambi. Remember when I said I trusted her and her judgment? I _lied_ , don't ever trust your best friends, they know _nothing_. Before I could go any farther I felt it's clawed hand wrap around me and yank me back, a yelp escaping my lips as I now was face to face with this terrifying monster. **  
**

" _Going somewhere_?" it growled as I struggled against its grip that grew tighter the more I protested. My thrashing stopped as I felt one of its claws dig into my neck and I grimaced, my gaze darting over to Spiderman who now lay sprawled on the street unmoving.

Oh no...

I looked back to the creature and frowned with a sudden realization: It looked almost like it was imitating his masked appearance with its own warped roided up version with a dash of Tim Burton for good measure. What the hell was this thing?

" _Your fear is **intoxicating**_..." it chuckled as it watched my gaze return to searching for something, _anything,_ to help me out of this. Its tongue slithered out of its mouth and ran along my cheek and I grimaced. Despite all the anime I watched I was _NOT_ into this. I clenched my fists in disgust before feeling part of my destroyed sledgehammers handle in my hand. It was like a lightbulb went off in my head as I began concentrating on shifting the broken piece into a makeshift shiv to escape, a difficult feat as I couldn't see to know if I was _anywhere_ close to what I wanted. One of many small downsides to my powers, unless I was looking directly at the item I wanted to create it often came out looking goofy.

"Methinks this girl _isn't_ into your Japanese tentacle porn fetish big guy." a teasing voice suddenly called out and my eyes widened in surprise. There, not even a foot away, stood Deadpool with one of his swords drawn on the creature and I released a small sigh of relief.

" _You again?!_ " it growled, it's deep rumbling voice filled with annoyance, but DP's attention was fully turned towards me as he sent a small wave in my direction.

"Aw, I missed you too dear. Hey, thanks for the distraction, kiddo, you really saved my man back there." he winked at me. I wanted to die. While Deadpool was often a menace to society I couldn't help but respect this giant manchild for sticking to his guns, especially now showing no fear against this hulking beast.

But also wait, did he just say his  _man?_

Before I could ponder the words any longer I realized my window to strike was closing quickly. I shook my head of the previous thoughts and drove the poorly looking ink shiv deep into the creatures hand and listened to it shriek in annoyance. It took me a moment after for my brain to realize that I was flung out of retaliation until I connected with pavement, but the direct contact brought it into sharp focus. I now understood how the cartoon characters felt when they saw the stars in their eyes after getting knocked in the head. My vision spun as I sat up and saw Bambi bounding toward me. Worry painted her face as she helped me up, gaze set on the creature that was now trying to whip Deadpool off it's back who was only holding on by the sword embedded in its shoulder while imitating a cowboy. I had to wonder if he was altogether there mentally. _  
_

"If you were looking for your chance to run, this is it!" he called to us seconds before he was yanked from his taunting spot, and then it happened. The moment I knew I would lose sleep over for many nights ahead.

"Ow ow ow!" he wailed right before the creature ripped him in two, his lower half tossed in our direction like a destroyed chew toy, blood hitting my face in the process.

I wish I could tell you I knew where his upper half went, what I could tell you was that I was too horrified to scream and instead had to be dragged away by Bambi who seemed to be screaming enough for the both of us. Sirens wailed in the distance as the police finally arrived on the scene, we gathered our belongings in a panic and ran as far as we could to escape what we had just seen.

This was not the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

There were no fourth walls to be broken to tell me this was all, in fact, a terrible comedy sketch gone wrong.

  
I had just watched the death of a superhero, and it was a nightmare.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies that this chapter is so much longer than the first, I wanted to get a good chunk of information out so I could segway easier into the upcoming chapters! 
> 
> Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy and feel free to leave feedback if you want! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ


	3. Aftermath Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nina deals with the aftermath of the violent encounter just witnessed and the trouble that follows!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!  
> Sorry in advance as this is kind of a larger chapter, I ended up splitting it in two to not make it so long! I thought it would be easier to get it all out at once so we could get to the fun bits next, as always feel free to leave feedback at the end! Thanks for reading! ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ

I wanted to vomit, in fact, I think I _did_ vomit during our short journey back to the lab. We walked in stunned silence, still trying to process what had just happened. Bambi's hand was wrapped tight around mine as if trying to reassure us both that we were okay.

I didn't feel okay.

_I felt like a coward._

 

We ambled into the lab quietly before the professor was on us like a worried mother hen, stress covering his usually serious features.

"The news has been blowing up. Are you alright? Who's blood is that?! Girls? _Girls_...?" he questioned frantically before we set our things down and took a seat on the chairs presented to us moments later. We both released a sigh that had been holding in our relaxed composure and it was like everything hit us at once. Bambi broke down sobbing while I covered my face with my hands and released a wail of agony, a slurry of curses leaving my mouth before I could stop myself.

"FUCK. _FUCK_! That was seriously fucked up, we almost _died_!"

"Deadpool _DID_ die! Oh my god...Deadpool _DIED_ , Nina!"

"I can't fucking do this, I don't wanna be a hero anymore. I DON'T WANT TO GET RIPPED IN HALF!" I sobbed as I dragged my hands down my face. My whole world was falling apart now that the dam of composure had all but shattered. Every time I closed my eyes I saw his legs flying through the air again and I felt my stomach clench with nausea. Don't meet your heroes kids, they too could be flung at you in a mangled mess one day.

We jumped as the professor dropped a large white medical case next to us and rubbed his temples, clearly not used to all of the sudden noises we brought with us.

"I need you to explain to me what happened, take a few breaths," he ordered gently as he knelt down in front of us, scanning over our shaking figures for potential wounds. Bambi started talking a mile a minute as he took to tending to my bleeding knees, my attention a million miles away.

I was brought back as he dabbed a cold cloth on my face to carefully wipe away the ink and blood that I imagined now looked like I had gone on a robbery gone wrong. I looked away as tears began welling up in my eyes in response. The realization of how stupid a decision this had been was coming into sharper focus, and although I knew he wouldn't say it himself, Stoma was clearly thinking the same. As Bambi continued, her voice grew shakier the closer she got to the end and the professor rested a hand on her knee in reassurance. The other took to gripping my hand that was now visibly shaking as she mentioned the creature.

We were a mess.

"Nina managed to stab it and get herself free but...but...-what the hell is _THAT_?" Bambi interrupted herself as she looked over at me and I froze, unsure of what she was talking about. She flew out of her chair and screamed at my shoulder, an indescribable noise of panic rising in my throat as I looked down and saw a pile of black goop traveling quickly across my hoodies dark fabric. I debated on what to do: Was I feeling brazen enough to rip my hoodie off and reveal my half-naked body to my BOSS to escape this thing?

**Absolutely not.**

Instead, I fell out of my chair and skidded around the floor in a panic. As if scooting far enough would somehow make this alien substance on my clothes realize that I was, in fact, an idiot and later would not try to burst out of my chest. **  
**

"Stop moving!" Stoma ordered as he now hovered over me with a clear lab container in hand, his brows furrowed with concentration as he managed to finagle the strange substance off my arm where it soon threatened to reach my hand. Once contained I let out a sigh of relief and rested my head on the floor, unable to keep up with all the strange, terrible events unfolding. This was all beginning to be too much and my brain was having an incredibly hard time keeping up. **  
**

One additional meltdown later I sat with Bambi as we struggled to find solace in our dinner. Stoma offered to call it a night after the debacle but I was now too curious to know what the hell had hitched a ride on me after the attack, so we opted to stay a bit longer as he dove feverishly into research mode. I had taken to looking at Bambi's camera roll and scowled.

"These are all of me running away from that thing..." I grumbled as I flipped through it. She had managed to catch the perfect look of terror on my face as I had tried to call it quits and head towards her. At any other time, I probably would have been able to laugh over it but I now felt more embarrassed than anything. Bambi managed a sheepish laugh before yanking her camera back seeing my face of displeasure and looked to the professor.

"A-anything you can tell us about that gunk professor?" she asked softly, obviously trying to segway that she had managed to get those candids. She was lucky I was also curious otherwise we would have had words.

"It's definitely...alive. It must have latched onto you after you stabbed that thing." he murmured aloud as he went back and forth from a microscope, his dinner and then his computer. I wandered over to his work area and stared with fascination at how active it was even after so much time had passed. A sigh of defeat escaped my lips as I reached for Bambi's camera and slid it over into his vicinity to give him a look at what it belonged to. He whistled and rubbed his chin looking completely lost in thought about what it could be. I leaned on the counter and rubbed my forehead.

"This feels like a nightmare..." I confessed quietly as he turned back to his computer to clack away at his keyboard and he abruptly stopped, turning to face me once more.

"What you did was extremely dangerous and frankly quite stupid." he started, and I frowned. There it was. The line that I had been hoping so badly to avoid.

"I understa-"

  
"You didn't let me finish. It was irresponsible, but you did what you thought was right, and no one can fault you for that. And Deadpool? That guy is an idiot, he was bound to get killed in some shape or form in the near future."

I frowned with confusion.

"You _know_ Deadpool?" I asked, my curiosity growing as he raised his brow to me and nodded. This man was seriously an enigma.

"I know many mutants. What I'm trying to say is don't blame yourself for something that was already written in the cards. Hell, you'll probably see him walking around next week." he added with a shrug and returned to typing as if what he said was perfectly normal. My frown deepened. _Was he on drugs?_

"You _did_ hear the part where I said he got ripped in half right?" Bambi called out, her face of growing confusion matching mine.

"I've seen heroes recover from worse scenarios, if you would even call him a hero at this point."

What the fuck did this man see that was worse than _**that**_?

I shared a look of concern with Bambi before shrugging it off and sliding over to his desk, a faintly glowing tank residing off to the side. Inside a small, orange cuttlefish peeked from behind a coral before zipping out to float in front of the glass. My heart melted. Leviathan was the most curious and sweet mollusk I had ever had the pleasure of meeting, not to mention the only one I had met, but that didn't change my adoration of this sweet creature.

"Give him some of those treats from Mrs. Basil will you?" Stoma called to me as I kneeled in front of the glass to study the small floating cutie and smiled. Sitting next to the tank was the small colorful bag from earlier that now sat open to reveal small pieces of shrimp, Leviathan's favorite meal. I plopped some in and watched as it zipped back and forth to catch all of the pieces, ending with a wiggle as if sending thanks. I pressed my head against the glass and smiled. _I would die for this sweet boy_.

"Head _off_ the glass, you'll smudge it." Stoma called to me sternly before appearing with spray and cloth in hand looking slightly annoyed. Glad to see his moment of sympathy had passed. I scowled and watched as he cleaned the glass feverishly, a small content smile soon appearing now that he had removed any trace of me being there and returned to his work.

" _You'll smudge it..._ " I mocked quietly before I watched Leviathan drift back to his coral slowly and return to his lurking, definitely not his usual routine. "Is something wrong with Levi?"

"He's just getting up in age now, after all, they only live to be around 2 years old."

"They _what_?"

"Have you listened to anything I've said whenever we talk about him?"

"Of  _course_ I did."

I did not. Death was _everywhere_.

He rolled his eyes at me and gave my arm a reassuring squeeze, seeing right through my words.

"Listen. Today's been difficult, I'm just going to finish up writing to my colleague and close up the lab. Why don't you girls head home early?" he offered as he noticed my face drop its faux enthusiasm. He was right, as much as I wanted to ignore today's earlier events it still haunted the back of my mind aggressively. He could tell me it wasn't my fault until he was blue in the face but the guilt still riddled me.

I gave a small nod and began to pack my things, unwilling to keep up a facade any longer. The adrenaline I had earlier had all but run it's course and left me exhausted and numb. I looked to Bambi who already had everything packed and ready to go, probably as eager to escape to our dorm as I was. As we began to head to the door Stoma called her back to whisper something under his breath to her. He motioned to the camera and she nodded before returning to my side shortly after, her gaze not meeting mine. 

"Nina," he called to me next and held up his phone, "Keep your phone on, will you? I'll most likely have some updates for you tomorrow on what this stuff is."

"Oh, of course. Goodnight Professor."

"Goodnight ladies, please let me know when you're home," he added, a hint of worry returning to his tone as he saw us off.

I shot him a half-hearted thumbs up before we headed out, air filled with uncomfortable silence as we settled back onto my Vespa. Bambi hesitated as she brought her hands around my midsection once more and then gripped me tightly. 

"Nina I...I'm _so_ sorry. Because of me you almost-" she started, her voice thick as she struggled not to cry again but I stopped her. I had to.

"It's a two-way street, Bam. I didn't have to do anything, I wanted to deep down. And the professor was right...regardless if I stepped in or not something bad was going to happen tonight." I added, slowly accepting his words. There was a pause before I felt her rest her helmeted head against my back, a signal she was ready to go and I started back to our dorm. The usual way home was blocked off due to the accident from earlier, my stomach in knots as we passed by briefly before looking for a different way back. Even though it was well into the night at this point I could still see dark the dark splotches of blood from Deadpools gory end and my mouth watered with nausea.

By the time we got back to the dorms, it was a ghost town. Usually, by now there were random room parties or people getting home from their jobs, but we saw no one. I clicked my tongue with suspicion.

"Must have been an early curfew since it was so close to the school..." Bambi whispered as if catching on to my thoughts. We both checked out phones and, yep, there it was:

 

> ! **EMERGENCY**!
> 
> Mandatory early curfew due to recent attack of a criminal still on the loose.
> 
> Updates will be released when more information is provided. Do **NOT** go out alone until further notice.

We shared a look of unease as we headed inside quickly. We had received this warning a few times in the past after various attacks on the city, but now that the attack was so close it felt all the more uncomfortable. My hopes for the police capturing that creature had flown out the window and my uncertainty now returned. With Deadpool out of commission and Spiderman in an unknown state of health, it felt like we were now sitting ducks.

"Oh thank god," was the first thing we heard as we entered our room. Benni's worried gaze greeted us from Bambi's bed before she was on us both in an instant, arms wrapped tightly against our necks as she brought us in close. My guilt worsened as I looked over to my bed and met Suzi's worried gaze, once again met with the memories of my recent actions.

"You fucking moron. What were you thinking!" she cursed as Benni released us and her hands immediately replaced her presence to cup my face, frantically inspecting me. I knew she meant well, that she was upset and worried, but the words still took me by surprise and brought the hammer down once more. I looked away in shame and she wrapped me in a tight embrace, a small sob escaping her as I hesitantly brought my arms around her shaking figure. I had never seen her as upset as she was now, the closest was when she had accidentally watched Grave of the Fireflies and god was that a nightmare.

"I'm sorry..." I managed to whisper out, and I was. The realization of how many people I risked leaving hadn't crossed me at all as I went in blindly earlier that day. Now being confronted with those who had spent hours worrying was bringing it into sharper focus, and I felt terrible for it. What would they have told my friends if that creature had done whatever it had intended to do? My parents? The thought of having to tell them what happened tonight filled me with unease, and I wasn't willing to call them and out myself in the process. That was an issue for morning me to worry about.

I shook my head and released myself from Suzi's hold and excused myself to the bathroom, ready for a cry, a shower and rest.

The rest of the night was a blur. I don't know how long I stayed in the shower, or even how long I stayed up talking to the girls about everything that had happened before I was startled awake by my phone going off. We must have all passed out on my bed because Benni was half hanging off and still knocked out cold,  and now Bambi and Suzi began to stir.

"What's going on?" Bambi murmured groggily as I checked my phone, my own exhaustion flying out the window as I saw how many calls and messages I had waiting for me. All from my parents and Stoma, one in particular from Stoma just saying **COME ASAP, URGENT**.

Uh oh.

I shot out of bed and immediately regretted it, a wave of dizziness hitting me from the night before, followed by an aching wave of pain that left me hunched over and wanting to vomit.

"Something's up. I gotta get to the lab...... _ohgodIwanttodie_..." I wheezed as I straightened myself and hobbled to my wardrobe, immediately cursing as my clothes flew out in retaliation from the day before. I listened as Suzi padded past me to the bathroom while I struggled to find some way to shove everything back in as a fuck you to my future self, because I clearly practiced self-love well. What remained on the floor were more black leggings, a tank top, and another hoodie, pastel yellow with Good Vibes Only sprawled over the front in fancy writing. Quite an upgrade from yesterday's mess. That'll do pig.

As I struggled on the floor in an attempt to get my clothes I felt a wet sensation hit my neck, a scowl forming on my face before quickly turning into surprise as I stared at a cup of water.

"You're going to need this." Suzi sighed as she plopped two painkillers in my hand which I greedily downed with the water.

"You're a blessing," I whispered, an ugly grunt leaving my mouth as I stood, rushing clumsily to check my phone as it went off again. It was my dad calling this time.

Oh _god_.

"What is UP daddio?" I answered nervously as I began to gather my things, the room quiet while they attempted to listen in. I wasn't _scared_ of my dad, he was a kind man at heart who could also rip a tree log in half if he wanted to. What I was scared of was when _he_ had to call me, because that always meant I was really in for it.

"Do you know how long your mothers been trying to get ahold of you, Nina?" he asked calmly, but I could hear the worry in his voice. My stomach churned with guilt.

"I'm sorry, there was so much going on last night I completely spaced."

"It's been on the news all day. You...didn't interact with that criminal did you?"

The silence was deafening as I debated on which answer would be better: Why yes, I _did_ toss myself in the ring and barely escaped with my life OR No, I was being a good student and doing my **HOMEWORK** at **HOME** when the lockdown happened.

"Nina-"

"Of _course_ not! C'mon, you know me, pops. Obviously, I was at home doing my homework...at home."

Nailed it.

"Oh _really_? Because the news reported a bunch of 'inky black-looking substance' at the scene of the crime. Care to explain that one?" he asked sharply, making my blood turn cold like a kid caught in the act. I silently cursed myself for not thinking to clean up my mess but with everything that happened how could I have thought about it at the time? I started making static noises into the phone and held it away from me. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

" **KRRR** -Dad? **KRRR** -You're- **KRR** -Breaking up! Must be another alien invasion- **KRR**!" I whispered loudly into the phone, ending the call before he could protest. I loved my parents, they were my heroes before anyone else and we had a stronger bond than many I knew. But one thing I wasn't about to tell them was what had transpired, especially when I didn't know what had happened myself. Bambi and Suzi stared at me as I hobbled around, and started for the door.

"You're really not going to tell them?" Bambi called to me in a worried tone and I scowled.

"Do _you_ wanna explain to them how they almost lost their only child last night?"

"...fair point. Do...you want us to go with you?" Bambi offered hesitantly but I could tell they were both still exhausted and a little apprehensive on joining me. I didn't blame them.

"I'm okay. I have a class starting at 4 anyway so..." I trailed, a look of relief in their eyes. Bambi still looked very shaken from the night before, I didn't want to force her to go back to the scene.

"Just keep us posted, _please_ ," Suzi called to me before I darted out the door and took off towards the lab. Today was a new day and the area that had once been crossed off now looked like nothing had ever happened. If there was one thing I was constantly impressed by in my time staying here it was New York and it's dedication that the cleanup crew had after the many villain attacks it faced daily.

I parked my Vespa and shot down the stairs only to pause as a flurry of muffled voices could be heard in Stoma's office, angry and urgent. I dared to step a little further to listen.

"Professor, _please_! This is a phenomenal find and you could save lives!"

"You need to leave. I've told you time and time again that whatever this is is highly volatile and shouldn't be anywhere near the medical field. Do I have to call security?" I could hear Stoma threaten and I finally stepped forward to activate the door, both their faces turning to meet mine as I sent an awkward wave.

"You rang?" I joked softly. The man standing in front of Stoma scowled and turned from him, storming towards me. He was a tall, gaunt man with wire-rimmed glasses and long hair that had seen better days. His shoulder hit mine roughly on his way through the door and he turned to give me one last look.

"I hope you know you're working for a monster."

"I hope you know he offers dental so I don't care." I fired back before he sneered at me and left the lab in a stink.

"I don't offer dental..." Stoma mumbled as I set my bag down and shrugged, taking a seat.

"What he doesn't know won't kill him. What was his damage anyway?" I asked as he took to leaning against the table I sat at and sighed heavily, removing his glasses. He only did that when he was _very_ stressed. Now that I got a closer look at him he was still wearing the same clothes from last night and his eyes were red with strain. I frowned with realization.

"Did you stay here all night?" I accused, his avoiding gaze a confirmation that my hunch was right.

"In my defense, you DID leave me with something incredible. I've never seen something like that before...and neither had my colleague."

" _THAT_ was your colleague?" I asked, unable to hide the surprise in my voice. He scoffed in response.

"I'm insulted you would think that. _That_ was Richard Talbot, I'm surprised you haven't heard of him. He teaches at the school."

I frowned again. The name sounded familiar but I had never seen him myself. But also, how did he expect me to know every single professor at that school? There were _dozens_.

"So why the name calling then?" I asked. He grew tense. I already didn't like where this was going.

"As I said, you left me with something incredible and I...I did something very irresponsible," he confessed. My heart skipped a beat. I knew he was a scientific man at heart but I had never pegged him for a mad scientist.

"What did you _do_ , Stoma?"

He stood and directed me over to the fish tank that was now covered and my heart sank. I didn't want to see what was under the cloth, in fact, I was _terrified_ after what I had seen last night. He lifted it tentatively and my eyes narrowed. There floating around like nothing happened was Leviathan, his hue a little livelier and personality like his old self. I gave a sigh of relief and went to touch the glass before Stoma grabbed my hand and gave a sharp " _Don't_."

Before I could ask why I watched as Leviathan turned in my direction and went pitch black, it's once calm demeanor looked aggressive as it began thrashing itself against the glass, threatening to crack it. I stepped back in shock and watched as the professor tossed the cloth back on, another frustrated sigh escaping his lips. I pointed to the cloth and stared at him in horror.

"What the _FUCK_ was that?"

"Watch your language, Nina."

"Oh, I'm sorry, because my fucking language is really the issue at hand here." I retorted before he shot me a look of annoyance. I folded my arms and waited for him to speak, his appearance growing wary as he realized he wasn't going to win this fight, not after what he just revealed.

"...When you left last night I ended up studying that substance a bit more, it was like opening a whole new chapter to science! Then I was able to reveal that the DNA itself is regenerative...almost parasitic-like. I had to test it out on something to see it's full effect."

"So you chose Leviathan."

"Levi was my _best_ option. As I said, he didn't have much longer for this world, who better to see what this strange substance could do?"

"Full offense but Talbot was right, this is Frankenstein levels of messed up," I whispered as I looked back to the tank that was now silent once more. He shrugged softly at my comment and rubbed his temples.

"You're not wrong. That's what I was trying to express to him when came in and saw my results. Not only had I done something terrible in a moment of curiosity but this was something that could _never_ come out in the open." he confessed. I was stuck. He knew he had done something awful at least, but with how angry the other man was I was definitely beginning to get a bit worried.

"What will you do now?" I asked after a long pause and he shrugged, frown set deeply on his tired face.

"I need to get Levi out of here. The colleague I've been sharing this information with can take him in and study him more than I'm able to currently but I have to act fast now."

"What, why?"

"...You don't know how desperate people like Talbot work, do you?" he smirked darkly before he began taking to cleaning up his workstation, my mind swarming with a million questions. Talbot had looked angry but Stoma was painting him out to be some movie tier nerd villain ready to come in guns blazing for this information.

"Stoma isn't a colleague for a reason. He used to be a well-known researcher like myself with dangerous intentions."

"Such as?" I pressed.

He was never this open. I blamed his exhaustion but whatever the case I was about to abuse it to get more information about his past.

"He was very pro-mutant experimentation to find cures to diseases, and later forced to step down for the distress he caused in the science field."

Oh. Yeah, that'll do it. I whistled in surprise at the revelation and took to sitting back down, my body protesting at all my movement. He stopped to watch me and frowned.

"How are _you_ doing? You never called."

"Yeah...sorry about that. It was a blur when I got back, and then I woke up to all these calls from you and the 'rents and-"

"You didn't tell them what happened did you?" he interrupted, his eyes wide with concern. Even he knew that telling them was a bad idea.

"Are you crazy? I'm pretty sure they know already but...I hung up before Dad could grill me."

"Nina..." Stoma sighed before taking a moment to himself and breathing deeply. I now felt a little bad for grilling him as badly as I did, but only a little after what he had shown me. This was a lot to take in in less than 24 hours, and being the science man he was I'm sure he knew a lot about this type of stuff happening. Especially with something as dangerous as this was...

"Do you need me to do anything? I have class soon but I can skip." I offered and he paused, a look of guilt washing over his appearance as he considered things.

"I'm not about to have _you_ blaming me for skipping classes." he joked softly, but continued, "How about I talk to your parents while you go to class and come back after? I'm going to have to make a trip home for supplies for Levi's journey and I can't leave the lab alone now."

"Do you really think he would come back so soon?" I questioned, unable to hide the nerves rising. He sauntered over to me and rested a hand on my shoulder, the universal symbol of him showing sincere sympathy. Or at least an attempt at it.

"I'm not sure what he would do, but working for the government makes you precautious of everything." he thought aloud. Wait, working for _what_?

"You worked for the GOVERNMENT?" I gasped. He shrugged with a small smirk, knowing full well he had gotten me trapped in another one of his games. While he was a man of many secrets at heart he would often toss lines to me about himself that I could never decipher if they were actually true or not.

The man was definitely a walking enigma.

"I have many secrets, Nina."

"Oh I know, I have a journal dedicated to them."

"You _what_?"

"Nothing, nothing." I smiled innocently. He could play his games all he wanted but after the first few I was determined to figure out more about him. So determined in fact, that I kept them all logged in a journal, and this was certainly going in next. He stared at me in suspicion before we both jumped at my phone alarm going off.

It was time for Drawing II.

"Looks like you need to head out."

"I'll be back here at 7. Is that too late?"

"That's perfect. Gives me time to pack everything up. Are you sure you're okay with this? You can always say no."

"I mean it's just telling some nerd off until you get back. How bad could that be?" I teased as I gathered my belongings, ready to head out. The look he gave me was unsure, but he managed to give me a small smile before I could question it.

"...Just be ready. We'll talk later."

 


	4. Aftermath Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nina deals with the aftermath of the violent encounter just witnessed and the trouble that follows!  
> Part 2!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second half to Aftermath, hope you enjoy it and thanks for reading! ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ

_Just be ready._

His words plagued me all the way to class. The silence of everyone now working on their figure drawings made it so much worse. I struggled to distract myself by popping in my earbuds and listening to some music but still found myself staring in space deep in thought. That inevitably bit me in the ass when I would snap back to reality and had been staring at fellow classmates. If there was a moment I could have crawled into a hole and died that would have been it.

I eventually gave in to my wandering thoughts and began to sketch out things that were bothering me: Little doodles of Leviathan, designs of Leviathan with big gross teeth like that creature, and soon a haunting picture of the creature I had been face to face with.

"Whoa, that's a sick design!" I suddenly heard the guy next to me, a metalhead that had been silently rocking out to his own music, remark after I set my pencil down and sighed with frustration.

"Oh...thanks..." I managed to mumble out before I saw his gaze linger on my fingers. My face burned as I quickly covered them with my sleeves and looked away. "I had a charcoal project earlier." I lied, a soft 'ooh' coming from him before he returned to his own work.

Bullet dodged.

I wasn't exactly fearful of how people would react to the truth of me being a mutant, but some people made it clear that being one was a curse and I did not have the patience _not_ to deck them. Plus, hearing comments since I was a child about having gross dirty fingers just got downright annoying. Not that I thought he would say that, but a precaution was a precaution. That's why having art classes like these were a perfect excuse to not have to worry about people getting  _TOO_ suspicious that I could be a mutant.

Just like that classes ended and I quickly packed up to leave. My eyes scanned around for any sight of Talbot but he was nowhere to be seen amongst the bobbling heads of students leaving their own classes. The halls were soon alive with chatter about the news from last night. News reporters hadn't made it in time so everything peers heard were by word of mouth. 

_"My friend said she saw a glimpse of it and its face was fuck ugly."_

Correct.

_"I heard it was 12 feet tall!"_

Incorrect.

_"Really? **I** heard he had tentacles and he caught a girl with them."_

_"You know where that leads."_

What was everyone's deal with the fucking tentacle porn??

My ears burned the more I listened to the rumors about the incident before I pried myself away and started across campus, back to the labs. Shock hit me as the room that was once bustling with his research tech was now almost devoid of Stoma's presence whatsoever. The fact that he was taking such drastic measures made my earlier discomfort grow.

"Ah, thought I saw you come in." he greeted as he reentered the building, car keys in hand and bag from the cafe next door in the other as he joined me. I looked at him with suspicion plastered on my face as he handed me a fancy salmon bagel and ice coffee, my stomach growling in protest as I set it aside and directed my hand at the room. I needed answers.

"Uhh, what is all this?"

"I'm just being careful. It'll all come back once I know there's nothing to worry about."

"Should _I_ be worried?" I asked with hesitation.

He sighed, clearly at his limit. Now looking at him he seemed completely tapped of any backup energy he had. That, and remembering he had no sleep for so long put things into perspective. It was now my turn to place my hand on his shoulder and give him a reassuring smile.

"I'm joking, Professor. Please go home and do what you gotta do, and for God's sake take a nap. I can't have you driving through the building on your way back."

He managed a wary smile and gave a soft nod. I, of course, _wasn't_ joking and grew very nervous at the measures he was taking. But he didn't need to know that, not now. He wandered over to the tank and gave it a gentle pat before looking at me very seriously.

"Levi needs to be covered at all times currently, it's the only thing that seems to relax him, and no food whatsoever."

"Nothing after midnight, got it." I teased and he rolled his eyes.

"I'm serious. I also got your parents up to date since _someone_ couldn't do it herself."

"Wonder who that was, sounds like a real _ass_ if you ask me."

"You have no idea. _Call them_." he ordered softly before he grabbed his messenger bag and started for the door, stopping to look at me. "Are you sure you're okay with me leaving for a bit?"

"I know you're my boss but I will literally knock you out myself if you don't leave." I frowned before he scowled in response and turned to exit.

"I'll be back soon. Call me as soon as possible if anything seems off."

"Get OUTTA here, man!" I yelled as he continued to linger, obviously hesitant to leave. I listened to the outer door signal his departure before I was on that fancy salmon bagel like a lioness on her prey. I hadn't realized how much time had passed in the day and how hungry I had been because of it. I now sat alone in an empty lab and sighed.

_What was I going to do with my time?_

 

* * *

 

 

"What do you think it feels like to be ripped in half?" I asked casually as I put my canvas down from sketching more monstrous drawings of the creature and I heard a noise of disgust from my phone. It had already been a couple of hours and I was bored out of my gourd by hour one, so I had called Bambi who now probably regretted her choice in friendship with me.

"Nina that's _GROSS_. But, probably like when we peel those mozzarella sticks apart, only bigger..." she added after a few moments of pausing. Nothing like covering your trauma up by asking the serious questions. I knew we were best friends for a reason. "How's it going over there? Did the professor leave my camera?"

"Oh, it's fine. Boring. Almost makes me wish that creep would show his face." I admitted as I began forming a ball of ink to toss around. This seemed like something silly to do, but after the debacle that was my hammer shattering into a million pieces so easily the night before I knew I had work to do. The goal was to toss it and not have it explode into a million pieces. So far I was failing.

"I don't know about your camera. I'll make sure to ask when he returns."

"Damn. He's still not back? It's pretty late. Do you...want me to join you? I mean it's dark out and I'm already in my pajamas and everything, but..." she trailed and I snorted. She was nothing if not obvious that she didn't want to come.

"Thank you for your _generous_ offer, but no. The professor should be back soon..." I added, a hint of worry in my tone as I checked my phone. Almost 4 hours had passed.

"I still can't believe all this happened today. And Leviathan-" she started, but my attention was unable to focus on her as the power was shut off, seconds later red emergency lights flickering on. My heart began to race.

"Bambi I have to call you back," I whispered as the suffocating silence was muffled by the sound of the entrance door clanking violently. I scanned the glass window to see if anyone else was working late tonight in any of the other labs, but I was very alone.

I felt like I had been tossed into a horror film in a matter of seconds. My hands scrambled for my phone and like clockwork, Stoma was calling me.

"Professor the power's out-"

"Nina, I got an alert, I'm on my way. I've called the police, you need to take Leviathan and get out of there if you can manage it," he ordered, his voice filled with panic. My stomach twisted into knots as I rushed to the tank and ripped off the cover. Its waters were now dark without the lack of light but I could still see Leviathans faint shape floating around, instantly turning pitch black as it saw me.

This would not end well.

"W-what do I do?? There's a coffee pot, do I use that?" I stammered as I picked it up, almost dropping it as I heard the door above burst open.

There was no time for a response.

I dropped my phone and dove the pot into the warm murky water, blindly scooping in the alien looking mollusk before footsteps could be heard quickly coming down the steps. Leviathan struggled against the glass as I hid underneath Stoma's desk and tried to keep quiet. When I said I was bored earlier I had not meant that as an invitation for a crazed man to break into my bosses lab. This was getting ridiculous and utterly terrifying.

I listened cautiously as the glass door to the lab opened slowly, careful steps following.

Silent curses filled my thoughts as I shut my eyes tight. I could feel a nosebleed coming on, a side effect of having high anxiety that I struggled with for years, and damn if this wasn't a perfect time for it to start. Leviathans struggles stopped as the footsteps grew nearer and paused right before the tank, a low chuckle following. Even in this dim lighting, I could see the water's reflection leading to my hiding spot underneath the desk. Stoma still yelling my name on the phone wasn't helping my case either.

"Come out quick, monster's pet." the familiar voice of Talbot rang into the air before I heard the click of the safety go off on a gun.

_This was really not good._

What kind of shit had Stoma gotten me into?

Moments passed before I clumsily removed myself from under the desk and immediately stared down the barrel of the gun I had heard earlier.

"Are you crazy?!" I blurted out in a panic, unable to contain my horror as I stood, clutching the pot like my life depended on it. At this point, I was fully convinced it did. Talbot stood before me with a wild look in his eyes, a look that shook me to my core.

"I'm desperate. I need a cure and after what I've seen...that thing could be the answer!"

"That _thing_ you're talking about went on a killing spree last night, moron. I'm not giving it to you." I fired back venomously as I watched his demeanor darken. It was like watching the birth of a villain unfold. A shitty, nerdy looking villain, but one nonetheless.

This was the moment where I had to stand my ground. I had already failed my attempts in stopping this creatures rampage previously, but giving this bit of DNA to a man like Talbot who was willing to shoot someone, a student no less, to get what he wanted? It was asking for far worse outcomes.

He fired one shot into the ceiling and I held on tighter to the pot, trying not to reveal how badly my hands were shaking before there were rapid footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Nina!" Professor Stoma shouted with panic as he bolted in, immediately stopping as the gun was now pointed in his direction. He looked absolutely furious. "What did you do to her?"

My ears rang from the gunshot but I managed to point to my nose to calm him, at least somewhat, of his worries. "It's just a nosebleed," I answered carefully before the gun was pointed back at me. I could tell he was getting nervous, his hands were beginning to shake and I was beginning to get mighty uncomfortable at how he was acting. My thoughts were brought back to the video I had watched so many times of Firefist, how he too was backed into a corner like a wild animal ready to strike at the drop of a hat.

I had to do something before it escalated.

"The police are on their way. Let go of this damned obsession and leave while you still can!" Stoma ordered icily, causing me to I blink in surprise. It was a cold day in hell when even Stoma took to cursing. This guy was seriously in for it if he got ahold of him. The gun was redirected at Stoma once more as Talbot attempted to take a timid step forward. There was my chance to strike.

I quickly formed a thick shard of ink in my palm before using Stoma's vocal distraction to fling it at Talbots hand in an attempt to knock the gun out of it. What happened instead was pure chaos.

It was like everything was moving in slow motion. He saw me moving at the last moment in the corner of his eye and turned the gun to me, the shock of the shard coming in contact with his arm instead of it's desired location.

Then the gun went off.

Moments passed before I felt a hot burning sensation spread across my chest, my gaze traveling down to see the coffee pot had shattered at my feet. Leviathan scrambled around in a desperate panic. _He needed water._ The longer I watched, entranced at his struggle, the more I noticed the Good Vibes Only text on my hoodie slowly grow stained with crimson. It was like a very morbid switch was flipped in my head and my body soon reacted to the hit. I staggered back as the pain finally greeted me, like someone punched me directly in the chest and I fell to my knees, not able to process anything other than 'Levi's going to die if I don't get him water,'.

My priorities were clearly on point.

Stoma released a cry of shock before he ran to me, his hands hovering over my hunched figure as if touching me would automatically have made me keel over.

"No no no Nina stay with me, come on!"

I struggled to speak but every time felt like a hot iron was twisting around my lungs, ragged gasps of air being released instead.

Was this it? Was I actually dying?

My vision seemed to confirm my overwhelmed suspicions as it grew blurred, looking up to meet the panicked gaze of Talbot who was now backing away in terror as he seemed to process what he had done.

"I'm sorry, I panicked! I'm sorry, oh god I'm sorry..." he whispered before he backed away from us, running out of the lab in a desperate attempt to escape while he still had a chance.

God, he was a real piece of work.

Stoma looked torn as he debated on what to do. The taste of hot iron filled my mouth as I attempted to speak once again but ended with haggard breaths, my bloodied hand pointing to the door to convince him to go after the madman. I couldn't hear what he said next, all I was concerned with was Talbot being captured before it was too late. My body crumbled on the floor as I felt my body begin to grow numb, unsure of how much time had passed. I was terrified. These were my last moments alive and I was facing them alone with a parasitic cuttlefish struggling to inch closer to me in my remaining time.

This was hell, I was in hell.

With my last remaining strength, I pulled the cuttlefish closer to me and brought it close to my chest before letting my tears finally fall. If I was going to die at least it would be with my favorite mollusk, even if all it wanted now was probably to eat my flesh.

 

Good vibes my ass, I could not have picked a worse hoodie on this day.

 

And just like that, I felt myself fade off from consciousness, unable to stop the darkness that was steadily closing in around me.

An overwhelming darkness that soon invaded my insides, twisting around my chest cavity like it was in search of something.

This was not a normal darkness, no.

I think whatever this was, was trying to save my life.


	5. Inkfection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nina emerges from her fatal accident to find that all is not well, but new faces are here to help!

_What was happening to me?_

My head was a mess of sludge as I tried to process what was going on. I was incoherent, fading in and out of what I assumed was consciousness as I was carried god knows where by someone I couldn't begin to recognize. The pain in my chest had dulled to a faint ache, but something still lurked inside. I could feel it.

I felt my forehead hit something cool and I managed out a soft sigh, welcoming the new feeling before I was dragged back into darkness once more, faint whispering joining my subconscious.

_Stop resisting..._

  
_...the more you fight, the harder this will be..._

  
_Do you really want to die?_

I didn't. But the voice that grew louder and more frantic with every word it uttered was not an inviting one, almost too familiar for me and all too menacing. I suddenly felt like I was being suffocated, wrapped in this darkness that held so earnestly onto me that I couldn't escape. I struggled, unable to release myself from its hold before more whispers arose, desperate to be heard.

_Stop resisting._

  
_Join us._

  
_We will make you stronger._

I wanted to scream. To tell these demanding voices to shut the hell up and leave me alone, but all I could do was keep struggling against the matter that continued to consume me. In one horrifying moment, my protesting was halted as the darkness took form and the original voice was clear as day. The same voice that had marveled over my fear not so long ago that froze me to my very core. The voice that belonged to the creature that showed me my first real terrifying encounter with heroism.

_Join us, together we will become one-_

"NO!" I finally screamed, my mind torn from whatever nightmare I was stuck in. My hands immediately flew to my chest to feel my heart racing a mile a minute as I struggled to gather myself, taking what I could in. The room around me was dark, only lit by what looked like medical monitors that I could now hear sounding off in a shrill rapid fire as I struggled to ease my panicked breaths. Sudden hands from somewhere in the darkness gripped me tight and I could do nothing but jump in surprise.

 

"Nina, Nina! You're okay, breath!" Stomas voice urged as I clutched him, my eyes settling onto his worried gaze.

"Professor...? What happened? Where are we?" I blurted as I finally regained enough of my composure to ask the questions swarming around my head. Before he could answer the lights above us were turned on to reveal a bright, clean medical room. I released my grip off Stoma and brought my hands over my eyes at the sudden light, surprised to see a heart monitor hooked to my finger. Other wires were hooked across my chest and head and I frowned, now seeing I was sitting in some type of gurney. Was I in a hospital? Was I stuck in purgatory? Did you usually see your bosses in purgatory? The more I tried to process things the more it was only making my head hurt.

A deep chuckle from behind me caused me to open my eyes once more and look at Stoma, who's wary face was now looking past me and I blinked.

We were not alone.

"Perhaps I can help with explaining some things." a low, soothing voice called as I turned my head, staring directly at a large man covered in thick blue fur and a lab coat staring back at me. I felt like my brain had shut off and rebooted itself. He stuck his hand out to me but I could do nothing but stare in shock and awe. "Miss Knight...?"

"I-I'm sorry, am I on drugs? Is he real?" I asked earnestly as I looked back to Stoma who now looked all too embarrassed at my reaction and could only shake his head. I took the man's large blue hand and gave it a delicate shake, rubbing my thumb along the fur that ran along the top of it before he pulled back sheepishly.

"Some pain relievers but nothing serious. And yes, I'm real. My name is Dr. Henry McCoy, I'm your Professors colleague and a fellow mutant, not that it's hard to miss..." he joked halfheartedly and I felt my face burn with embarrassment. The first mutant I was able to have a serious interaction with and I was making a complete ass of myself.

_Ass._

The voice was small and faint but I definitely heard it, almost like the voice from my dreams. I shook my head to rid myself of it before gazing up at him and smiling apologetically.

"I'm so sorry. I don't meet other mutants often so this is...a lot! But wow, you're amazing." I confessed as he hovered nearer to inspect me, a small bashful smile forming on his face as I found myself unable to keep my eyes off him. He was a larger man and had a somewhat normal face, but inevitably looked like a weresmurf that stopped mid-transformation and decided 'I guess I'm okay with this'. His gaze briefly met mine before he quickly replaced his smile with a look of concentration to hide it.

I was bewitched.

My earlier woes seemed to disappear the more I watched him in action and felt an uncontrollable smile creep along my lips. I couldn't believe this was happening, my first serious interaction with a mutant and it was this.

"Don't feed his ego _too_ much. Henry works as a genetics researcher in his free time, we used to work together way back when. Drink this," Stoma explained softly as he rejoined my side with a glass of water in hand. I stared at him in shock. Stoma used to work for the government with the Missing Links exotic cousin who he was good friends with? Was this real life??

I drank the water eagerly, welcoming the cold sensation it brought before quickly realizing the cup was already empty and sighed. It felt like I hadn't drunk in ages, it could have been ages at this point. Hell, I still didn't know anything about what was going on other than I was still  _alive_. My gaze shifted over to catch McCoy shooting Stoma a haughty stare as he worked to remove the monitor patches off me delicately and I smiled as their banter continued. It was rare to see Stoma act anything other than serious, this was truly a treat to witness.

"A man gets a few Master degrees and suddenly that's feeding his ego..."

"Bragging."

"Do you hear that, Nina? Harvey claims I'm bragging."

"Hank-" Stoma started, but I was quick to catch on, my eyes growing wide with wonder at this new revelation.

" _Harvey_?" I mused as we watched Stomas face grow irritated with embarrassment. I was relishing at this moment. McCoy seemed to share my feelings as his face seemed to be thinking heavily on if he should press on. "What else has _Harvey_ done?"

"Nina-"

  
"Oh, you wouldn't _believe_ the gossip he was during college-"

  
"HANK!"

I couldn't help but share a look of amusement with McCoy as the two going back and forth, finally stretching after the last patch was removed. I quickly shrank back as the now cooled sweat on my tank top made contact with my skin and I grimaced. Now that I was fully awake I felt disgusting, and looking down to see the small hole in my tank top was an instant memory that things were not okay like I had hoped.

This was going to have to be confronted eventually.

My hand hovered over my tank to see the remnants of a dark scar, my heart pounding as every fiber in my being told me not to touch it but my curiosity too strong to deny. My fingers ran over the scar gently and it felt like I had unleashed absolute hell on my mind. All the memories I had been avoiding since waking up were now attacking me full force, the calm I had once felt all but gone and replaced with the last emotions I had felt during the attack. The fear of being held at gunpoint, the confusion, the anger of watching Tolbat run away after he left me for dead.

Tolbat.

  
_He_ _needs to pay._

  
My thoughts of revenge were halted as a faint growl of pain rang through my ears and I snapped back from my violent trance, my hand clutching McCoys in a vice-like grip. I gasped in horror and quickly released him, swinging my legs out of the bed to distance myself from his pained expression. The instant my feet touched the ground I fell to the floor and groaned, waves of static washing over my lower half as I was slowly coming to the realization that I hadn't used them in some time. I was quickly falling apart.

Stoma stood over me with panic in his eyes as he held a needle filled with some type of liquid at the ready in my direction, soon seeming to realize I was me again and holding a hand out for me to grab onto.

"Dr. McCoy I-I'm so, so sorry. I have no idea what happened...I just..." I tried to explain as I stood shakily and held my head, the pounding faint ache in my chest returning. The two gave a sigh of relief at my words, now fully convinced I was back. McCoy rested a hand on my shoulder and smiled despite looking like he wanted to be as far away from me as possible. At that point, I didn't blame him.

I wanted to be as far away from myself as I could be too.

"You're alright. It's not the first time this has happened," he admitted as if trying to reassure me. Instead, it made my heart sink.

"It's not...?" I asked gravely before Stoma leaned against the desk of what now looked like their work area and took his glasses off looking grim. I knew he was trying to be reassuring but it just made me more uncomfortable.

"We haven't exactly gotten to talk to you about what happened. You've...been in a coma for the last 3 days."

"Almost 4 now," McCoy added softly to my bewildered face. I figured I had been out for maybe a day, but 3? The more they revealed to me the more I wished I could have still just been asleep and not woken up. Attacking people while I was unconscious, attacking them when I wasn't...what the hell was happening to me?

"You have to understand, Nina...When I came back from chasing...Talbot, you were at the brink of death, but whatever the substance was inside of Leviathan transferred itself into you. It's the only thing I can imagine is keeping you going right now." he explained carefully, his grip around the needle growing tight after the mention of Talbot. The mention of his name sent my head spinning, but I couldn't let myself have whatever that episode was happen again. I wouldn't.

"It's a miracle really," McCoy admitted as he took a seat at his desk and nursed his hand, a frown settling on my lips as I tried to process all of this. The voices from my dreams suddenly made more sense, and so did the feeling that something lurked in me that didn't belong.

But to call this a miracle felt wrong, I felt more like a ticking time bomb.

"I wouldn't consider multiple violent outbursts a miracle but go off I guess." I shrugged, a nod of agreement eventually followed by the two men. I nodded towards the needle Stoma still fingered hesitantly and quirked a brow. "Dare I ask?"

"It's just a sedative, in case things were to go awry. Though, if a coma couldn't stop you I don't know how good this would be." he joked darkly as he finally set it down and instead wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug. I couldn't help but let a look of confusion cross my face at his sudden gesture, even McCoy looked surprised. "I am so sorry, Nina. This is all my fault and I'm going to do my best to fix this. I should have never put you in that situation."

As much as I wanted to enjoy his extra rare moment of compassion I took a step back and frowned, not realizing until now how terribly he must have been beating himself up over my unfortunate fate.

"Professor," I started before folding my arms and looking up to him with a stern face, "I did what I felt was right. That guy was a creep and I would feel worse if he got what he wanted. Consider my demise my stubborn way of saying fuck you to people that think they can get away with their actions."

"I like her," McCoy mused as I watched Stomas face go from guilt-ridden to relieved from my brief Ted talk. He laid an encouraging furry hand on his friend's shoulder and gave him a toothy grin. "We're going to do our best to fix this. You were in decent hands before, Nina, now you're in excellent ones."

I smiled and sat back down as they re-examined me, taking multiple blood samples for testing, my stomach lurching with discomfort at the sight of the almost black substance. You would think being a fan of horror movies would have calmed this, but my mind was immediately brought back to Deadpool being ripped in two and I grimaced.

"Something wrong?" McCoy asked as he now examined my fingers in a curious manner and I shrugged. At this point what wasn't wrong? I shook my head to dismiss the negative thoughts and feigned a smile.

"This is just a lot..."

"I understand. It can be a bit of a transition adjusting to things you're not used to," he admitted before I watched his gaze travel to his own hand briefly before he pressed my palm gently. I blinked.

"What are you doing?"

"Just trying to see how you activate your ink. Harvey often goes into great detail about it and I wanted to see it for myself, " he explained as he continued to press around my fingertips. I stifled a laugh at how earnest he was acting, unsure if he was being serious or just trying to cheer me up. If it was the latter it worked and I decided to enlighten him.

I concentrated on my fingertips and we both watched in gross horror as what emerged was not my usual ink but something thicker, coagulated and unknown to me.

"Is it safe to say that this isn't a normal occurrence?"

"Not at all...what the hell is going on with me...?" I whispered in disgust as Stoma eyed my hand with great suspicion from their work area. He shuffled over to me quickly to scrape some of the substance off my hand before handing me a handkerchief. Count on Stoma to be the man of the hour when it came to recovering gross substances.

The more I found what was happening out the more I wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out. I hid my face in my hands as I struggled to keep my emotions in check in fear that anything would set off that dark angry place again. Stoma and McCoy's voices lowered significantly as they took to whispering to one another before they stopped, my curiosity raised enough that I eventually peeked from behind my hands to see what they were scheming.

"So, Nina," Stoma started, giving me a serious look as he dove in, "Your body is going through a lot right now, and you're going to have to give it time to adjust..."

"Aw, are you going to tell me the differences between a tampon and a pad now?"

"Nina-"

"I think," McCoy started next before we could continue our banter, " _We_ think it would be in your best interest to stay here while we continue running tests."

"Where is here? You guys still haven't told me anything!" I protested before they both shared a guilty glance with one another. I knew they were just as in the dark in this situation as I was but damn if they weren't making it even harder for me. I needed answers.

_And food._

There was that damned voice again, but it wasn't wrong. My stomach released a low whine as if to agree and I scowled, trying to hide it.

"I apologize. With everything that's happened we're all a little scatterbrained it seems. Hank is also a professor at Xavier's School for Gifted Children."

I squinted at the two of them, unsure if this was really happening, my food cravings on hold at the sudden revelation.

"...You said The School for Gifted Learning?"

"I did."

"Created by Charles Xavier."

"Yes."

"School for mutants?"

"Nina is something wrong?" Stoma finally snapped as I continued to go back and forth with him, my brain freezing as I struggled to think of something to say. I couldn't exactly tell him the man I had been thirsting over for months was also a teacher here, I could already feel my face grow rosy with embarrassment just thinking about it. Instead, I released a gross nervous laugh.

Nailed it.

"N-no...I just...I've never been around so many mutants." I stammered, which technically wasn't a lie. While I knew some of the customers we delivered to were mutants, I had never been up close and personal with any to the degree I was about to be. Hell, even meeting McCoy felt like I was meeting a unicorn. A giant fluffy blue genius of a unicorn. If mutations made some people look like that, what else was I in for?

Stoma seemed to take my white lie and patted my shoulder in reassurance. A bullet dodged.

McCoy, however, stared at me with suspicion.

"Charles still runs the school right? It's been almost 10 years since I've last seen him." I asked nervously, trying to switch the topic and McCoy gave a small curt nod as if still trying to sort me out.

"So I've heard. We should be able to catch him before the latest teams debriefing if you'd like to say hello?" he offered, my worried thoughts flying out the window at the mention of a team.

"When you say team, do you mean the X-Men?"

"The majority of us live here, yes."

"You're one too??"

My mouth went slack with awe as he nodded, a hint of pride in the smile that appeared on his face. Heroes I had watched on the news for so long and dreamed of fighting alongside all living under one roof?? How had I not pieced this together sooner? How was _McCoy_ an X-Man??

"I have  _so_ many questions."

"So you're staying then?" Stoma asked from behind his computer and I nodded eagerly.

"Of course, yeah! I'm in!"

"That was quick," he mused as I stood and wobbled once more, being held up now by McCoy who gave me a hearty chuckle as I stabilized myself.

"I regret not saying where we were sooner. Are you sure you're feeling up for this?" he asked warily as I padded around the medical room now, adjusting my legs to walking again. I nodded before I caught sight of myself in the mirror and frowned deeply, instantly regretting my confirmation.

I looked like I felt; exhausted and clammy with a dash of crazy for good measure, or as I like to call it 'a person that woke up from a 3-day nap and didn't know what year it was any more'. I looked to the two who seemed to catch on and Stoma shrugged his shoulders.

"Your things are upstairs, I managed to stop by your dorm while you were recovering-"

"You went to my dorm?!" I interrupted and shot over to him, worry taking over my face. All this chaos had happened and I hadn't even thought about my roommates or even my parents...Just call me biggest douche in the universe. "Do they know what happened?"

"Yes, your friends know. There was no _way_ I was getting out of there without telling them the truth," he added with a tint of fear in his gaze as if remembering the experience all over again. Even Stoma couldn't avoid their wrath when I was in trouble, I loved them. My stomach churned as I brought up the inevitable.

"What about mom and dad?"

"They...don't know. I told them you were doing work here on my behalf. When you call them, and you _will_ call them, just avoid talking about this for both our sakes." he added with his usual stern tone and I nodded, relief soothing my stressed out heart. While I was glad they were still in the dark the voice in the back of my head wondered what would have happened if I had died. Would Stoma have told them? Or would he have to break the news to them that death finally caught up to me and run its course? The thought made me shiver with unease, desperate to change the subject before it was all I could think about.

"Sorry. You were saying before I interrupted?"

"Ah, right. You'll have to bear with that getup a little longer. But don't worry, Charles is aware of what you've been through," he explained before offering his lab coat as a substitute. I accepted it graciously but it didn't make me feel any better. My only prayer in this meeting was that I didn't run into anyone during this encounter, but being the school that is was how was that _not_ going to happen?

They guided me through a technical looking metal door to reveal a brightly lit corridor leading to many doors both large and average on both sides. I couldn't stop myself from exploding with questions.

"What's down there?" I asked eagerly as I pointed to the farthest sealed entrance at the end of the corridor looking ominous and secretive. McCoy gave a soft smile and chuckled.

"That's where we have what we call Cerebro, able to pinpoint any human being or mutant on this planet."

"Anyone?"

"That's right."

"Ugh, that's so cool, definitely gotta use that later. There are some 6th-grade bullies that have gotten Cerebro's name all over them. Oh! What's down there?" I asked with excitement as I pointed to the opposite end, a pleased look forming on McCoy's face.

"Oh, that's the X-Jet hanger. My pride and joy."

"The what?!" I couldn't stop myself from gaping in awe. I had only seen it in the videos of attacks where the X-Men came to save the day and now I was only a door away??

"Please, please can I see it at some point?"

"Become one of us and you could even ride in it." McCoy teased like he was talking to a child, but I ate it up. If they were smart they would have held a contract in front of my face then and there because I was sold on that fact alone. We stopped our short walk at a set of stairs and I hesitantly followed, feeling all too aware of my appearance and wishing at that moment I could have disappeared, but no such luck.

McCoy and Stoma were the first to head out of the door that slid open when we grew closer to the top. My jaw dropped at the sight around me. If only my younger self could have seen the upgrade the mansion had gotten since I last visited. It was beautiful, and so homey now despite its sheer size. As we ventured further out I saw the sunlight gleam through one of the many windows we passed, miles of greenery outside that I so badly wanted to explore.

"Can't believe you guys had me chained up in Frankenstein's basement while I could have been enjoying _this_." I teased as I ran my hands along the rich wood that paneled the wall, fingers delicately running over the fancy frames that held portraits of old white men scattered along it. There was a soft cough and I stopped dead in my tracks, suddenly aware that we weren't alone anymore. A door we had passed in the hallway now slid open and seemed to beckon us forward. Stoma held his arm out to direct me in and gave a soft smile in reassurance.

"That would be my doing, I do hope you will forgive me, Miss Knight." a familiar voice called out and I smiled warmly, my worries melting away. Sitting before me was a man I hadn't seen in years, looking a little older but none the less lively than he always did, but still very, very bald.

 

"Professor Xavier, it's been too long."

"Please, call me Charles. I'm just glad that you're back with us now, you gave us quite a scare when you arrived," he confessed as he extended his hand out to me. I took it in my own, giving him a firm handshake before watching his eyes flash with a look of worry, quickly covering it up with a chuckle. A wave of unease seemed to travel through me with that small look but I ignored it, joining him in a quick awkward laugh.

"Would it be a visit from me if I wasn't worrying at least one person?" I teased before there was a soft knock on the door. We all turned to see a tall, lanky man donning some red-tinted sunglasses and an X-Men uniform stood in the doors entryway. He looked like he had a stick up his ass.

"Oh. You're awake. You look like you've seen better days," he added in jokingly as he stepped in, extending his hand out to me. I narrowed my eyes at his backhanded comment but extended my own out warily to shake, immediately bringing it back as I saw a look of displeasure cross his face as he saw my hand.

"Surprised you can see anything with those shades on." I shot back defensively as I watched his frown deepen, opening his mouth to fire something back. Charles was quick to step in.

"Now, now let's not make this a hostile environment. Nina, this is one of my star pupils, Scott Summers. Scott, this is Nina Knight, she'll be staying with us for the next few days while we study what's been happening to her."

"Charming," he mumbled dryly as he folded his arms and looked away from me, clearly as done with the interaction as I was before he got closer to the professor to ask him something I had no desire to hear. God what a prick, it's not like he didn't see mutations every day, why was mine so unsettling for him? I shared a look with Stoma and McCoy who looked like they were wishing they were anywhere but here, and I felt the exact same way.

Their gazes suddenly traveled to the door briefly and I soon followed as a light thump filled the air and my heart stopped. Passing the doorway in all his metal glory was the Adonis I had been hoping to avoid more than anything in the world. Clearly, fate had other plans, because deep in mid-conversation Colossus passed by, briefly meeting my gaze and like that, I swear I felt my brain flatline. His gaze seemed to linger a little longer, out of embarrassment for me or curiosity I'll never know, before he was gone and I was stuck staring at nothing, completely in shock.

Oh my god. I was both in heaven and hell all at once. I felt like I had just spotted Waldo if he was a good 7ft tall and had an ass that wouldn't quit. And those muscles...I felt my brain going into dangerous territory before a voice rang in my head urgently:

**_Nina...NINA!_ **

I was jolted back to reality and turned back to see everyone looking at me, various mixtures of worry or confusion on their faces before I gave a sheepish laugh.

"I'm so sorry, Charles. What were you saying? My brain seemed to be somewhere else..."

"Oh, I know."

"E-excuse me?" I stammered as McCoy rested his hand on my shoulder and chuckled.

"Didn't you know? Xavier is a mutant as well, only, his powers are of the _telekinetic_ type."

"In this case telepathic," he mused as he watched me burn holes into the ground until I processed what he said.

My entire body froze in horror. Charles and I shared a look that seemed to confirm McCoy's words and he raised his brow as if questioning my inner thoughts.

Oh god. Oh no.

"I am so, so sorry at what you might have possibly heard..." I whispered, wanting nothing more than the sweet taste of death before he smirked at me, hints of mischief on his lips as he released a shrug.

"My fault for invading. I just wanted to see what, or _who_ had enraptured you so much that you missed what we were saying." he mused, my ears burning as he continued. This man had a deathwish out for me and by god, he was doing a great job at it at achieving it.

"Moving on," Stoma finally sliced through the awkward tension in the room and shared a look with McCoy, "As we were saying, we'll let you get adjusted tonight and pick up testing tomorrow. I'm curious to see what's going on with your system now that you're awake."

"You make me sound like I'm a computer. That's fine though, I'm dying for a proper shower, maybe something to eat..." I admitted as I watched Scott head towards the door eagerly, clearly ready to depart from having to do any more interactions with me ever again. At least we felt the same way.

Charles was close behind and he took my hand in his once more, a look of sincerity in his eyes now.

"I would love to stay and continue this conversation but my team needs me. We'll talk again soon, yes?"

_'Don't give in to those voices, you are stronger than they will ever be.'_

I blinked and stepped back in shock that his voice had suddenly filled my head. It was strange hearing someone that wasn't supposed to hear your innermost thoughts suddenly sending you encouraging words about a nightmare you were trying to desperately to avoid. Had he seen what I had seen? More importantly, did I want him to see what I had?

A slow unsteady nod finally left me as we watched him depart and I released a heavy sigh.

 

This was going to be an experience.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fun is beginning!  
> Looking forward to writing these next few bits, hope you enjoy what has been written so far!  
> As always let me know what you think if you like it! (๑꒪▿꒪)*


	6. Jackass of All Trades

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nina begins to show more effects of the creature lurking inside while also dealing with her stay at the x-mansion!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hewwo!  
> Sorry this took so long, my computer decided to freeze right as I was finishing writing so I had to go back and fix everything hahasobs
> 
> *Special note: There's a Russian line used in this chapter that I will translate here:  
> Bohze moi: (Oh) my god
> 
> As always, I hope you enjoy and let me know how you're liking it so far! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°

"So, that went well." McCoy finally announced with a hint of sarcasm.

  
We were now standing before a lavish wooden staircase that led to the upper levels, an air of discomfort between us as we tiptoed around the awkward interaction that had happened. Stoma's gaze seemed to bore into the back of my head as I did everything to avoid it, instead marveling over the intricate antiques and bookshelves that decorated the room. Charles was clearly from wealth and he was not afraid to show it.

"I mean that could have gone worse." I shrugged casually, a small scoff emerging from Stoma.

"Not by much," he replied gruffly as I turned to meet his gaze. Yep, definitely hadn't won any points from him for that conversation with Scott. McCoy was quick to dismiss himself with the excuse that he 'Left something running downstairs and needed to check on it' before vanishing, a little too eager to leave. Coward. Now it was just Stoma, who now directed me up the stairs wordlessly.

"What's that Scott guys deal anyway? Why's he got such a stick up his ass?" I finally dared to question before stopping midstep, a sudden horrified thought popping into my head. "Wait, he doesn't have mind powers too does he?"

My sudden apprehensiveness seemed to make him chuckle briefly and shake his head, now leading me down a corridor of doors. Names were neatly displayed on them to signify who stayed where, and yet I _still_ hadn't seen a child in sight.

"Scott can produce optic beams from his eyes. Those glasses you so bluntly pointed out earlier are the only thing stopping them from emerging."

"Laser beams from his eyes that he can't control? Yikes." I whistled as we finally stopped in front of a nameless door, Stoma releasing a sigh of frustration at my words. He turned to me and rested both hands on my shoulders, activating his serious cryptic uncle mode.

"You have to be more mindful of people here, Nina. I know that wasn't a great start for either of you, but everyone here is struggling with their own powers and issues, you were there once."

"I'm still there, Stoma. Or did you forget all of the recent events that happened?" I shot back a little too aggressively and frowned. I know he meant well, and that people here had their own demons. But it wasn't like I wasn't struggling with my own issues with my powers, or lack thereof currently. And I sure as hell didn't think they could _hear_ their demons talking to them as aggressively as I did either.

He seemed to catch onto my frustrations and gave me a reassuring squeeze.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. Just...be careful is all I ask. And watch the language around here, you'll be around kids now."

"They gotta learn the fuck word sometime." I teased as I watched his face go from sincere to disappointed in a matter of seconds. "Where are the little rascals anyway, don't tell me ol' money bags had to make budget cuts."

He seemed to ignore my teasing, instead opening the door to reveal a small homely room inside. A simple bed, dresser, and desk were the first thing my eyes drifted to, and then something I wasn't expecting to see in the slightest.

"Leviathan?!" I whispered in shock and rushed to the tank sitting in the corner. The familiar pattern of that cute little mollusk that I had previously feared would eat my soul was now back to normal and floated in front of my face. "How...how did this happen? I thought whatever was in it was in me now?"

**_Yes._ **

"I'm a little perplexed about the whole thing myself still, but I managed to save him just in time when I came back for you so...I thought you'd like the company," he explained before I rushed back to him and wrapped my arms around him, snickering at how uncomfortable he grew at my sudden kindness. He quickly squirmed out of my embrace and directed me instead to my old workout bag that had seen better days. "As I said earlier, I dropped by your dorm and the girls took liberties of packing you some things in case you chose to stay..."

I couldn't help but stifle a laugh. Took liberties? With how squeamish Stoma was about interaction in general and lack of fashion skills other than lab coats I took bets that he practically begged them to pack for me. I couldn't say I wasn't grateful though, inside were mostly cute dresses and the like, my dead cellphone and at the very bottom some cute but questionable lingerie. I shut it immediately to save Stoma the horrors of seeing and laughed nervously.

"Thank you, Stoma. I really appreciate this."

"It's the least I could do after all of...this. Why don't you take that shower you wanted and come to see us downstairs when you're done? We'll see about getting some food in you and maybe a proper tour if you're up for it." Dr. McCoy suggested, eyes widening in surprise as my stomach reacted to the word food.

**_FOOD, YES._ **

"You had me at food," I admitted sheepishly as I tried to drown out the eager voice in the back of my mind at the mention of finally getting food, like I had never eaten a day in my life. My face flushed with embarrassment at my stomachs protests and Stoma gave me a warm nod, dismissing himself from my new room to leave me to my devices.

Now that everything had settled down and I was alone I felt...restless. I reopened my bag and began unpacking what little there was, charging my phone so I could call the gang to announce that I wasn't actually dead. As I reached the bottom of the bag a note sat patiently waiting to be read and I smiled. It was very clearly a message from Bambi and the girls, little doodles filling the page before some hastily scribbled words in the middle:

 

> **Congratulations you beautiful idiot,**  
>    
>  **You managed to shave off at least 10 years off all our lives with this last stunt.**  
>  **Stoma filled us in with some 'gentle' persuasion, you better feel lucky that there's this distance between us otherwise we would KILL you ourselves.**  
>  **Like, congrats on being a total badass but also what were you thinking??**  
>  **Anyway if you're alive, and by god you better be, we look liberties of picking out some cute things for you since you're in the steel balls court now, if you get what I mean ;)**  
>  **We love you, call us soon!**  
>  **\- Your Degenerates**

Reading how worried they were filled me with the reoccurring guilt I had been feeling after each reckless decision I had made recently. I unloaded the remainder of my bag before heading into the shower, welcoming the hot water after being stuck in the cold medical lab for so long. The longer I stood there the longer I dove into my regrets of all the decisions I had made. This all felt like a terrible dream that I couldn't wake up from, especially with the lurking sensation of something scratching under the surface of my mind, speaking when I least expected it to. When was it going to ease up?

My shower seemed to end as quickly as it had started and I now stared absentmindedly at Leviathan who only seemed to be concerned with his corals. It was strange knowing the last time I had seen him he was transferring whatever monstrous substance it had to me to save me. But now it made me wonder...

"Are _you_ who I'm hearing...?" I asked with some suspicion as I neared the tank, but the voice was silent. I now laughed at myself thinking that this was an actual thing I was asking a cuttlefish, like it would actually answer me back.

And yet I still found myself staring every few moments with suspicion as I changed into a cute black tunic and leggings, still expecting it to say something to me. Instead, I listened as my stomach released another desperate growl moments, a deep hunger following.

**_HUNGRY!_ **

"I got it, I got it. Jesus..." I huffed as I slipped on some socks and pulled my hair into its usual loose side braid, growing annoyed with this urgent angry voice. I poked my head out of the door unsure of who I would run into, but no one was in sight. God this place was strange.

"Professor Stoma...? Dr. McCoy?" I called out as I started down the stairs, but I saw neither my awkward mentor nor the big blue teddy bear waiting at the base to lead me to the promise land of food. I took to wandering the halls, occasionally calling out their names before the strong scent of something savory lured me forward. I couldn't avoid it if I wanted to, my body was ravenous and whatever this was called my name. That was my thought process at least until I finally set eyes on a cozy looking kitchen, immediately settling on the large metal figure with his back turned to me.

Colossus stood hunched over the counter humming softly to himself and I felt my brain freeze with horror. This was the second time today and I was not prepared to interact, much less be in the same room as the man I had been pining for. He stopped what he was doing abruptly and seemed to sense he was no longer alone, turning to look with curiosity. I shut my eyes and took a step back, praying to any gods listening that something would happen to prevent me from having to speak to him.

_I know I never went to church but god if, you were listening-_

_**Relax.** _

"Hello? Is someone there?"

I opened my eyes and released a small gasp of shock, unable to contain myself. Whatever malevolent god that listened to my frantic prayers answered them as I was now unable to see myself at all. My horror was quickly snuffed out when I heard Colossus' gentle chuckle fill the air, looking right in my direction after hearing my slip.

"Hm. It seems an invisible student has joined me. Come out, little one, no need to hide." he consoled gently. He brought his arms out in front of him as he moved forward like he was afraid he'd bump into this nonexistent child and my heart melted. Here I thought this man's persona was as hard as the metal skin he donned, instead, he was sweet as honey.

I took another step back from him, wondering if I could make a getaway like this. A sudden noise in the distance caused us both to pause our movements as Stoma's voice rang through the air.

"Nina? I swear I heard her..."

"Professor?" I blurted out to him in surprise and soon found myself staring back at my inky hands, back to my normal self. He paused to marvel at my sudden appearance before starting towards me, face filled with questions. I didn't blame him, I went from ink manipulator to the jackass of all trades in a matter of hours, why wouldn't he have questions?

"Oh! There you are, are you alright?" Colossus' voice rang out behind me and I turned to face him once more, not realizing he had gotten much closer than I expected and face planted straight into his broad chest. A startled *'Bohze moi!' filled the air as I hit the floor, my face burning with pain and embarrassment as I lay there mortified. There was only one thing I could do in this situation at this point.

"What happened?" Stoma's voice now hovered above me and I soon felt his fingers touch my neck to check for a pulse. I was still very alive, very embarrassed and very much playing dead.

"She ran into me and...I am terribly sorry Professor, I did not mean to startle her." Colossus confessed, his voice guilt-riddled. I listened as Stoma released a small chuckle and the soft clunk of him patting him before sitting me up, pressing something soft against my now bleeding nose.

"It's quite alright. Nina hasn't always been the most graceful bull in the china shop. Mind helping me take her to the lab?"

He had to know I was faking to make a comment like that, but also  _excuse me what now?_

"Of course, it's the least I can do."

Oh  _no._

I struggled to keep myself together as I felt Colossus' strong arms scoop me up like I was nothing, now settling me in the crook of his arm as my head rested on his chest. He smelled faintly woody and metallic, a scent I wanted to get lost in forever but had to stop myself from enjoying in case I gave myself away. I had to be dead, there was nothing that would convince me that this was actually happening, I refused to believe it.

I now listened as an unconscious passenger as they began down to the lab once more, Colossus' heavy footsteps the only thing keeping from the awkward silence.

"This is the girl you brought in the other night, da?"

Oh my god, he knew about me.

"Yes, she's a student of mine. She'll be staying here while we help her with her new...talents." Stoma answered carefully as they descended down into the lower levels. The air quickly changed from the warm and inviting presence above to the familiar coldness of the lab and I knew we were near. Another chuckle emerged from Colossus, now a deep rumble as it reverberated in my ear and I had to stop myself from grinning like a chesire cat.

"Don't worry, she will be in good hands."

Joke was on him, as far as I was concerned I was already in the _best_ hands.

I now heard the familiar noise of the lab's door sliding open and was soon gently placed back on the gurney, my second home. A grunt I could only guess was McCoys followed shortly after.

"Back so soon?" I listened to him muse before a hand rested on my forehead to check my temperature.

"Nina took a hit against Piotr's chest."

"Oh, did she?" he asked with great amusement, his hand resting on my shoulder as Colossus explained what happened. Sitting there I felt bad to make him feel like he was at fault when it was my own clumsiness, even worse that I would have to encounter him later with this as our first real encounter. But, that wasn't my issue currently. My issue was trying to keep a straight face as McCoy continued to test my acting, poking and prodding me in what I assumed was just his idea of seeing if I was concussed.

"She'll be alright, da?" Colossus asked before I heard what I could only imagine was the soft clank of a reassuring pat from one of the two.

"She'll be fine, she's been through worse. Why don't we head back up and I'll get her something for when she comes to?" Stoma offered as the door slid open once more, light thuds of Colossus' steps following.

"That is good idea. It would also be nice to catch up with you again, Darwin."

The room went silent at the mention of this new name. It took everything I had not to sit upright and question him right there about it, but I regretfully resisted. Stoma finally gave an uncomfortable cough.

"I don't go by that name anymore, Piotr."

There was another terribly awkward pause before the footsteps began again, another apology flooding out of Colossus' mouth before their footsteps faded to nothing. I continued to stay silent until McCoy gave a gentle pat on my arm and I shot up, face finally able to express a million different emotions.

"You never seem to have a dull moment, do you?" he smirked. All I could do was throw my hands up to my face and groan.

"In my defense, I was planning to lay there until he lost interest in me."

"This isn't a possum/predator situation, Nina. On the topic of defense mechanisms though..." he started and looked me over. All I could do was shrug my shoulders. "Invisibility?"

"I couldn't tell you. I got so nervous when I saw Colossus that I just..." I trailed as I watched his eyebrows raise with great interest. I had really done it now, the floodgates of intrigue were open and McCoy was plowing through.

"Colossus, huh? I had my suspicions from earlier." he teased, a frown of embarrassment forming on my face as he took my vitals. If I had a dollar for every time he did this today I would have been able to slap Charles with 3 whole dollars...

I shrugged off his teasing to express my other worries.

"I'm...also hearing a voice. It keeps talking to me, helping me do things like that weird vanishing act. And it's so, so hungry..." I admitted quietly as he returned to his computer, a look of worry crossing his face at my words. He rolled his chair in front of me and sighed.

"All I can tell you for right now is to keep fighting, you're stronger than it is. I'm still running diagnostics on your blood but with the testing we'll be doing it'll give us more insight. Here," he offered as he pulled something from his desk and handed me a chocolate bar, my body unable to control itself as I eagerly opened it and went to town on the delicious treat.

**MORE OF THIS!**

"This is really awkward to ask...but do you have more of these?" I asked hesitantly. He quirked a brow at my sudden eagerness and I could do nothing but laugh sheepishly about it. "It's for that voice, I swear."

"I'll make sure to have someone pick more up in town tomorrow to keep it satiated, will that help?"

**YES**

I nodded, both our gazes turning to the door sliding open and seeing Stoma reappear, a bowl of some sort of delicious stew in hand. He paused as he saw me now wide awake and eyed me with suspicion.

"That was fast." he pondered as he held the bowl out to me and I immediately feasted, uncaring of their faces watching me eat like a starved animal. I paused as the taste finally hit me, an almost spoiled flavor meeting my tongue and I struggled not to gag.

"Nina?" McCoy questioned as I stopped and swallowed what remaining food I had left in my mouth and held my stomach in agony.

**NOT FRESH!**

"I think this might be spoiled..." I whispered as I held it out to him, watching as he sniffed it curiously. He shook his head and handed it to Stoma who also shook his head. **  
**

"It's freshly prepared. I watched Piotr finish it myself,"

"O-oh..." I trailed as I attempted to try it again, grimacing at the off taste it brought but continuing to eat because I was so hungry and I felt bad to insult Colossus' dish. They shared a look with one another as I finished and continued to hold my stomach, unsure of what that voice meant by not being fresh. At this point, I was scared to know. My thoughts wandered to Stomas earlier remark of his name and I studied his stiff appearance, not knowing if asking would upset him.

"I think...I'm gonna head upstairs. Tomorrow is a big day after all..." I added as I finally settled on canning my curiosity to save from another awkward interaction. They both nodded as I took the bowl and started out, giving a nervous smile. "Thank you for the meal, Stoma."

"Don't thank me, it was Colossus who made it. Also, I'll be going back to the college tomorrow to look into some things, but I'll be back later on for the results," he added with a faint reassuring smile, McCoy giving me a polite nod before I shot them one of my well-known thumbs up and left. Clearly they needed to talk and I didn't want to keep them beating around the bush, but damn if I didn't want to hear what they were talking about.

I felt like now it was the norm to have more questions than answers at this point. Voices speaking to me, powers that I couldn't control, running into beautiful giants around every corner. Not to mention Stoma and his increasingly suspicious history. During my deep thinking, I had somehow managed to direct myself up the stairs and around the mansion once more to my brief destination. I was quick to poke my head into the kitchen to find it now empty and set the dish down into the sink before rushing back down the halls. Now that the sun was setting I began to hear the faint voices of children and quickly took to my room, relief filling my lungs as I managed to anyone new. I didn't mind meeting new people but this was already so much.

"Oh Levi, I'm sorry, you must be hungry..." I whispered as I saw his shape float past in the corner of my eye and sighed. Beside his aquarium was the tiniest freezer I had ever seen, filled with various frozen treats for him. I opened a pack of small frozen fish and plopped them into his tank, watching him eat with my own hunger clawing at my insides.

**FRESH!**

My mouth began to water as the hunger grew stronger watching Leviathan do it's usual swirl with content as it ate, my mind wanting nothing more than to dive my hands in and eat it whole to satiate my needs. I finally tore myself away from the glass and dove into the bathroom to retch what I had eaten up, unable to stomach it or the terrifying thoughts of eating that poor little mollusk. **  
**

"It's getting worse..." I whispered as I stared at myself in the mirror, my face now looking exhausted and defeated more than anything. Today was filled with its successes but internally I felt like I was fighting a losing battle. How long could I do this?

_'Keep fighting, you're stronger than it is.'_

McCoy's earlier words rang in my head once more as I sauntered to my bed, giving in to the exhaustion after depleting myself of my recent meal and plopping down face first into my pillow. My phone was now fully charged and I debated on calling Bambi to fill her in on the sweet awkward deets, but not knowing anything other than I was a flaming mess didn't seem like something anyone wanted to hear at that moment. Instead, I fished through the calls and saw that my mom had left me multiple messages and one recent voicemail. I curled into a ball and listened as her voice flood into the room.

 

> _"Hi honey! Stoma told us that you're doing a project over at Xavier's school, we're so proud of you! I'm sorry I'm calling so much, your dad and I are just a little worried after not hearing from you after the attack. I know it's only been a few days but...a mother still worries, you don't exactly have the safest track record after all...a-nd I **immediately** regret saying that. Honey how do I delete this voicemai-"_

It was easy to see where I got my awkward interactions from, thanks, mom.

The message ended abruptly and I sat there unable to keep myself from fighting back tears. I missed them, and I felt worse than ever feeding them lies that things were better than ever when I was, in fact, descending into chaos faster than I could keep afloat. One ugly cry later I faced the setting sun, remembering the calm I had felt almost a week prior as I woke up to the beginning of this. I wanted to go back to that moment so badly.

It was then that I decided I was done almost dying and being consumed by whatever creature was keeping alive. Tomorrow I was going to take the steps back to getting my life back and living until I was 69 years old dying from fatally tripping over my own elderly breasts. This is what I told myself with confidence as I finally succumbed to sleep.

But even I knew deep down it was naive to believe that, deep down I knew that voice would never let me go that easily and boy, was I right.


	7. Testing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nina has new encounters and tests the limits of her new abnormalities resulting in some messy outcomes!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! Sorry again for the wait, AO3 hates me uploading things! This chapter is a chonkers though so I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Brief explanations on some things that will be included in here:
> 
> *Facehugger - If you're not familiar with the Alien franchise, a Facehugger is basically the 2nd stage of xenomorph that attacks your face and implants its egg in you that later sprouts out of your chest. I was going to include a picture but didn't wanna frighten anyone ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
> 
> *Halter Monitor - Basically a mobile heart monitor that tracks your heart rate as you do your daily routine, often used to check for palpitations or strange occurrences going on with your heart ( ᐛ )و
> 
> *David Copperfield - A mysterious magician with mysterious secrets
> 
> Russian terms used:  
> *Da - Yes
> 
> German terms used:  
> *Mein Gott - My god  
> *Danke vielmals - Many thanks
> 
> Hope you all enjoy! ( ◞･౪･)

The next morning arrived sooner than I had expected it to, but God did I welcome it.

  
I woke to the rising sun breaking through the window beside me and directly into my line of sight. A hiss of discomfort escaped my mouth before I finally gave in and surrendered to its waking demands.

The night before hadn't been easy in the slightest, my body once again damp with sweat providing me evidence of night terrors that were now thankfully just a distant memory. Except for the one remained: the haunting torn fragments of Deadpools body invading my thoughts to remind me of how this had all come to be. The nightmare I would probably never be able to escape.

My weary gaze traveled outside to the greenery surrounding the mansion and I couldn't help but release a sigh of remembrance at its sight. It immediately brought me back to my dorm and the relaxing view I would wake up to in the morning, right before one of the girls came to harass me for classes. Now that my head was clearer I realized how much I truly missed them; Bambi's chastising for working until the sun came up, Suzi's rare sighting before she was off to polish her admirable overachiever status and of course, Benni's bold fashion choices she surprised us with every day. I know it had only been a few days, most of which I was unconscious with, but I knew this was just the beginning of what was to come. I needed to hear them.

The thought alone of getting to talk to them brought a smile to my lips, immediately interrupted by a bright light flashing in the corner of my eye. I squinted as it hit my eye once more, quickly disappearing and reappearing every few seconds. What kind of morse code nonsense was someone trying to pull? I frowned and pressed my face against the window only to see none other than Colossus, already dressed for the day with a television set in front of him.

"Is this guy for real...?" I whispered with confused fascination as I continued to watch this beefy metal man stretch, suddenly at peace with everything that had happened recently that had led me to this beautiful moment. It didn't take long to realize that he was imitating a workout tape, doing burpees faster than I could say that this was a college kids worst nightmare. And yet, I couldn't tear my eyes away.

I began to rearrange myself to get a better view of his silvery biceps glistening in the morning sun only to stop as I felt something scrape against my leg. Fear immediately took over as I gripped my blanket and prepared to find the worst. Maybe the substance inside of me had finally had enough and now waited to attack me like a *facehugger. Maybe I had done something terrible in my restless sleep and the remnants were waiting under this blanket...

" _What in the hell?_ "

I felt like the PG version of [The Godfather with the horse head](https://youtu.be/VC1_tdnZq1A?t=60), only instead of a mangled bloody mess, it was the remains of a dozen chocolate candy wrappers. My thoughts went into 20 different directions at once as I tried to piece together how this had happened. Did I somehow raid the kitchen for sweets in my sleep? Mugged some unsuspecting child of their candy haul somewhere? As if I wasn't already confused enough with the voices and the weird transitions my body was going through, I now had to be worried about being a sleepwalking chocolate stealing gremlin. This was an _excellent_ start to the morning.

**SOMEONE IS COMING**

As if the sudden deep growl of warning hadn't startled me enough the brief knock on the door moments later sent me yelping in surprise and scooping up the wrappers in a panicked frenzy. I stood in the middle of the room unsure of where to toss them and frowned, realizing how absolutely stupid I felt to be in this situation.

"Nina? Are you awake?" Dr. McCoy's muffled tone rang through the door, my frazzled half asleep brain suddenly deciding the dresser would be the best space to shove the evidence. I had no arguments against this and quickly dove for it, shoving the wrappers in like a robber with his stolen stash.

"Y-yes! Just a minute!" I called with alarming enthusiasm, releasing a sigh of relief at my accomplishment like I had just pulled an epic *David Copperfield stunt. I whipped the door open to welcome the looming furry man and smiled nervously up at him. He donned a sweater vest over a button up today, an upgrade to the fashion I had usually seen Stoma wear under his labcoats. Before I could point this out he squinted at me with suspicious eyes, standing rooted to his place before me and frowning.

"Are you alright...?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm _perfect_. You caught me before I was going to hit the showers." I lied before leaning against the door frame. I mean, I wasn't altogether lying, I _did_ feel better than yesterday, more alive at least. His frowned deepened as he continued to study me before I shot him a nervous laugh in an attempt to distract from his interrogating gaze. "Did...did you need something?"

"I just wanted to let you know that testing begins at 9 sharp. We'll be having some help along the way with it so I ask that you be on time. Also, this is for you," he added as he presented an x-men uniform to me before I could question him on what he meant.

My eyes must have grown ten sizes as I marveled at it. This fancy leather suit with the classic yellow X that I had watched so many of the teams wear on television was now being presented to me for whatever these tests ahead were.

I couldn't wear this, why did he think I deserved to wear this for some mundane testing??

"I appreciate the gesture, but this body in that suit? You're asking for a miracle." I joked as I politely handed it back to him, too ashamed to tell him that I didn't feel worthy to put something like that on when I felt like I was on constant watch for another breakdown. His face seemed to drop momentarily at my returned gesture, a look of wonder on his face.

"I...see. Would a trainee shirt do then?"

"As long as it's cute."

McCoy squinted at me briefly before rolling his eyes, handing the uniform back to me as he started off towards the stairs. He stopped abruptly to turn back and look at me with judgment filled in his eyes and I could do nothing but shoot a very inconspicuous smile his way.

"9 o'clock, Nina. And make sure to clean that chocolate off your face."

" _HUH_?"

It was all I could muster as I stood dumbfounded in the doorway, waiting until he was out of view to rush to the bathroom before groaning at the sight in my reflection. I looked like a baby that was given chocolate for the first time and promptly smeared it all over its face. So much for trying to keep my unknown criminal acts of comfort candy under wraps. Where did I even _find_ all those bars? And when?

These questions plagued my mind as I took a shower and prepared for the day ahead. How was my body going places in my sleep? It would explain why I was still so tired even after resting for so long, but _how_?

"I wish you could tell me where I went..." I whispered to Levi as I stepped out of the bathroom, tossing some frozen fish pieces into his tank and watching him eat eagerly. The more I watched the more I wondered how well that would actually transpire. What if we were bonded through this substance and I was told the secrets of the ancients, or Stoma's hidden secrets of things he did when I wasn't in the lab with him? The thought made me somewhat grateful that I couldn't hear its thoughts, as some secrets were just better left unspoken when it came to Stoma and his strange habits.

I gave up on imagining these insane scenarios and began throwing on my clothes for the day. Today's choice was a black tank top, workout leggings, and my sneakers. As I slipped them on I noticed traces of blood still stained them, a feeling of nausea washing over me as I was forced to remember what had happened. My hands shook at the memory and threatened to turn invisible once more as my anxiety quickly rose. I took to trying to calm myself with old breathing techniques before I was somehow back to being invisible and bleeding all over myself. I know my friends had packed a fair amount of clothes for my stay but was it too much to ask myself not to bleed on every piece of clothing I had??

Once I had stabilized myself enough I gave myself a look over and exited my room, contemplating searching for McCoy only to realize I still had a good amount of time to waste beforehand. I opted for the kitchen instead, because why not risk my taste buds one more time? I was _starving_ after last nights failures and today was a new day, hopefully, one filled with less vomit. As I neared, an echo of giggles rang into the air causing me to pause. My nerves were already getting the best of me on who I might meet today and how they would react, especially after yesterday and the rocky start with Scott. I couldn't stomach another snide remark from him today.

"You're a new face," a light voice announced as I started in as casually as I could muster, jolting slightly at the immediate notice to my presence. I turned to the voice and forced a polite smile onto my face that quickly melted into a shocked frown as I saw who was sitting in the corner of the small kitchen table.

"Negasonic...?" I whispered to the black-haired, punky looking girl sitting before me. She squinted back with confusion growing on her features as I wandered closer to the table, a nervous smile forming on my face.

"Uh, do I know you?"

"I sure hope not. I-I mean, I don't think so. That was a dig on me by the way ..." I added quickly after as I found myself unable to stop burying myself into a hole of mortifying embarrassment. The girl sitting next to her, who was slender and rocked long pastel pink hair, stifled a giggle as I shuffled awkwardly in place and ran my hands other my face. "There isn't any chance either of you knows how to reverse time to stop this awkward conversation from happening, is there?"

They looked at one another thoughtfully and quickly shook their heads, the girl with pink hair sticking her hand out to shake mine with a sweet smile.

"The last time we did things did _not_ end well," she admitted softly, beaming at me as my expression seemed to beg for answers to that ominous answer. Instead, she took my hand delicately in hers and shook it. "My name is Yukio. Nice to meet you!"

Negasonic raised a curious brow at my hand before sticking her own out shortly after to greet me.

"I'm Ellie, but you probably knew that already. How do you know me again?"

I gave a nervous laugh as I realized how creepy it must have sounded to have some random girl fawning over her at that moment, my face flushing with embarrassment. "Oh! I just saw you in an interview once. You can do energy fields right?" I asked a little too eagerly, not helping my case as I inched a little closer to the table. She nodded slowly before nudging a chair out for me to sit in and I accepted gratefully, unable to hide the excitement on my face. To say I watched the interview only once was a lie, but she didn't need to know that. _Nobody_ needed to know how many times I watched those videos.

"Something like that." she nodded as she looked me over, her face suddenly relaxing as seemed to realize something. "You're that girl aren't you? The one they brought in a few nights ago with the disease?"

My face fell at the question. God, is that what people thought about me? I was some mutant with a gross illness? I mean they weren't wrong I guess, but hearing it out in the open somehow felt worse than the reality of it. I watched as Yukio nudged her gently in the rib with a small frown at her remark and I couldn't help but laugh.

"It's okay! No walking plague, maybe Black Plague. _Kidding_." I added quickly as both their faces went from curious to alarmed in a matter of seconds. "I'd rather not be dubbed the Disease Girl though, so my name is Nina. Nice to meet you both!"

"Oh! She's _that_ girl!" Yukio now whispered in surprise as they shared another quick look to one another before directing their attention back to me. I could do nothing but look like a deer in headlights, unsure of where all these 'that girl' accusations were coming from. Oh god, I hoped this wasn't about the chocolate...

"What she means is you're the one Colossus has been up in arms about. He thinks he broke your nose yesterday." Ellie snickered, the brief relief I felt immediately drowned out by embarrassment.

I couldn't do anything but stare at them dumbfounded, unable to respond. On one hand, he was talking about me, something I hadn't imagined ever happening in my lifetime. On the other hand, I was now either the walking plague or the girl with the broken nose to people around the mansion. With nicknames like these, I didn't even need to open my mouth to drive people away.

"What I wouldn't give to crawl into a hole. He didn't do anything, that was all me..." I admitted in defeat as I sank my head onto the table and explained my embarrassing medical issue of hypertension, the condition that would kill me if life's awkward encounters didn't get me first. This somehow blossomed into us talking about injuries we had gained over the years and I couldn't help but stifle my laughter from their stories.

"Don't forget when Russell sent you into a car," Yukio teased. Ellie rolled her eyes and smirked darkly at the comment, though I could tell she was annoyed at the memory. I snickered softly, remembering back to the interview where they were trying to talk the kid down from another attack that inevitably ended with her flying back into a car after Firefist, or Russell to them, had been laughed at one too many times and retaliated.

"If Douchepool had just kept his mouth shut-"

"Language, NTW."

The firm voice took me by surprise and I had no time to mourn the loss of their teammate, turning to see Colossus' towering frame lumber into the kitchen. We had somehow been having such a good conversation that I missed his heavy footsteps and now I sat there stunned. There was a moments pause as I turned to look back to them in panic before he gave a noise of interest at my hunched figure desperately wishing I could disappear again. "Oh, it's you!"

I stood and feigned as normal of a smile as I could to him, but inside I was nothing but internal screams. I had just spent my morning creeping on him from my room and now I was inches away from him.

_This was fine._

"H-hi. Colossus, right?"

Hot start, Nina. Real good.

"*Da, hello. You must be Nina, I am terribly sorry for what happened last night. Are you alright?" he asked sincerely, brows furrowed on his stony face as he looked down at me. He had to be at least 2 feet taller than me if not more, my thoughts immediately taking a nosedive as all I could focus on was climbing him like a tree. I shook my head to try and rid myself of the thoughts and gave an embarrassed laugh.

"You're fine, really! No broken nose, just embarrassment." I gently teased, a look of relief forming on his concerned appearance at my words. My eyes wandered back to his features and I couldn't help but take this moment to admire his figure now that I was up so close, fascination taking over my shy demeanor. His body was incredible, covered head to toe in organic metal, with faint, delicate ridges circling up a good portion of his body only to stop at the top of a very defined neck. And yet he was still operating like one of us like this was nothing out of the ordinary. It was admirable. I watched as a small smile crept on his face as he met my wide stare and gave me a reassuring pat, immediately causing my body to stiffen with shock from the contact.

"There is no need to be embarrassed, little one. Have you girls had breakfast?"

"Oh boy, here we go," Ellie called from behind, breaking me from my stunned trance from the brief interaction. We watched as he took to rummaging through the cupboards just to pull out a handful of protein bars, my face growing slack as he offered them to us. First working out early in the morning, now offering healthy breakfast snacks? This metal beefcake was truly a college students walking nightmare.

"What? It's most important meal of day." he protested gently as he held the bars out to us.

Both Ellie and Yukio shook their heads readily as he held them closer to the two, clearly having been at the end of this offer before. This left me to be the odd one out. "Here, good for bones. You will need for later."

I managed a small nervous 'Thank you' up to him before accepting, a smile of pride on his face that I had actually taken his offer forming as I did so. If I had known it was that easy to please him I'd have taken the whole box, but it did make me wonder. Had he just gone around offering everyone these until someone finally took them? Not only that, but why was I going to need this for later?

"What did you mean by later?" I asked carefully, his face growing confused at the question.

"Professor has asked I assist in your testing later, you did not know?"

"He did _what_?" I tried to cover the look of confusion quickly spreading on my own face with a casual shrug, but inside I was already plotting murder. "Uhh duh! Of _course_ I knew you would be there. I can't wait to thank Dr. McCoy for this totally fun, totally not embarrassing day ahead."

"Do not worry, it's just procedure! Ah," his encouraging words faded as he studied the clock hanging on the wall, a deep frown forming on his face. "I must prepare for the day. I will be seeing you soon, da?"

"Ah...da?"

Smooth.

He chuckled softly at my response and gave a brief goodbye to the girls before departing, my face growing red with embarrassment over my last words. Da? Had I really made those my last words to him? Oh _god_. I slowly sank back into my chair and groaned, finally meeting the stares of the two who now looked delightfully curious.

"Are you _interested_ in our mentor?" Ellie quirked, my eyes immediately looking anywhere but their knowing faces after the question. I stood abruptly and eyed the clock. There was still plenty of time before I had to meet McCoy, but damn if I wasn't about to rush to meet him sooner. I had to leave before I made an absolute fool of myself.

"What? No, _no_ , definitely not. What? Pfft. _No_. I gotta _go_ ," I lied. Poorly. They stood along with me, my desperation to leave rising as they joined my side, both wearing knowing smiles that my lie was about as good as swiss cheese was holey.

"We've gotta get ready anyway, why don't we join you?"

"I, uh-"

My brain had officially short-circuited. I now walked in awkward, sweaty silence as they led the way, huddled close together before Ellie turned to me with a curious glint in her eye.

"So, what is it you like about Colossus: The hero complex? The constant mothering he does over us? Maybe his big-"

"Ellie!" Yukio interrupted, poking her side lightly. Both our gazes were now on her in surprise before she could finish.

"Muscles, you sickos."

I could do nothing but blow out a sigh of relief, barely holding it together talking to the two. At this point, my eyes fell on Ellie's hand that had intertwined with Yukio's and I blinked with surprise. My gaydar senses were now alive and tingling and I was desperate to change the subject. Anything to stop me from thinking about Colossus' big _muscles_.

"Oh! So you guys are an item?"

"7 months!" Yukio exclaimed with excitement as she held their entwined hands up together and beamed. I couldn't help but snicker as Ellie looked away, a light blush forming on her face. The more I watched them interact the easier it was to see how well they vibed together. It warmed my heart to see how happy they both were, even if Ellie was the shyer of the two to express it. That just made it cuter.

We now descended into the lower levels as I continued to ask questions about them, but Ellie wasn't interested in my attempts to change the subject in the slightest.

"Sooo, how did you lovebirds meet?"

"Training. You're still avoiding my question from before."

 _Dammit_.

"I-"

"Be nice, El. Are you in school, Nina?" Yukio interrupted as we walked down the corridor. My body welcomed the cold air that now had settled around us, the interrogation causing my internal temperature to boil now.

"I'm an art major. Makes a good excuse for the ink powers, y'know? At least it did..." I joked halfheartedly as I held up my hands to their curious faces, a soft 'ah' emerging from their lips as they saw my fingers and pieced two and two together. I knew Ellie wanted to ask the moment she saw them earlier, but I was grateful that she hadn't acted on it. I debated on if I wanted to test my powers out again to show them the works but decided against it, unsure if I could handle seeing that all my hard work over the years was now essentially boiled down to black goop. We now stood in front of McCoy's lab and Yukio gave my arm a reassuring squeeze as I continued to look at my hands with disappointment.

"Don't give up. It might be difficult right now but you'll get better," she reassured me, a soft nod coming from Ellie as she sent her own supportive smile my way. While I wasn't hopeful at the time, hearing someone other than the professors tell me this had me hopeful that things could get resolved.

"Thank you, really."

"Don't mention it. Maybe after this thing we're helping Colossus with we can get together and grill you more," Ellie offered with a teasing smirk as she lightly tugged Yukio away. My eyes narrowed with suspicion at her words and it clicked a little too quickly.

"Christ, not you guys too..."

"See you soon! Bye, Nina!" Yukio called warmly as they disappeared through another sliding door and I stood there riddled with confusion. I don't know what kind of games they were playing but I was ready to be on my toes around both of them. Hell, everyone at this point.

As if on cue I heard the medical lab's door slide open behind me to reveal McCoy, ready to step out before he jumped in surprise at my sudden appearance.

"Ah-Nina! Glad to see you're here on time, and no chocolate." he stammered as he tried to play off his startled appearance with a teasing joke. The smug smile creeping on my face was quick to let him know I had caught his little scare and instead presented a yellow and black jersey to me, TRAINEE written in large lettering on the back. "Since you were so vocal about your uniform earlier..." he murmured, embarrassment filling his voice now as I took it and smiled.

"Aww, you really do care," I remarked with faint sarcasm as I slipped it on over my tank. We both of awkwardly marveled over how it just barely covered my midriff, clearly not a shirt to be worn alone. McCoy released an embarrassed chuckle at the impromptu crop top but I found myself loving it even more. "Does this make me a trainee now?" I mused as I admired it, an amused scoff erupting from him in response.

"Hardly. Inside the lab now if you would," he called as he ducked back into the medical room. I followed close behind before stopping a few feet away from him now hovering by his desk, directing me to the gurney I knew so well. I took a seat and fiddled with the protein bar Colossus gave me earlier, McCoy giving a smirk at the sight.

"I see Piotr found you."

"Yeah. Nice guy, he tells me I'll be doing testing with him at some point later. Thanks for the heads up." I added dryly as he prepared my arm for its morning blood draw. He gave me a soft sigh as he finished moments later, immediately doing his ritual routine of inspecting what new fresh hell this recent sample might reveal.

"He's one of the defense teachers, what was I supposed to do? I thought it would be wise to include him for some of the tests."

"Oh _really_?" I mused, raising a curious brow to him. "Stoma did something like this when we first met, is it the same thing?"

"Precisely. It's just to see how your system is fairing during this process," he explained calmly. I couldn't argue against that. When Stoma and I had first started working together he put me to work on seeing where I ranked as a mutant. Six different rankings with seven levels for each: Intelligence, Strength, Speed, Durability, Energy Projection and Combat. By all accounts I was a very average mutant, only excelling in combat training because of my training in my late teens and energy projection because of the distance I could project my ink. Even now by those standards though I was probably a lower ranking because I had lost what powers I had. I studied my hands again and frowned, trying to keep Yukio's words of positivity in mind before clenching them shut.

She was right, they were all right. I was going to get this fixed.

I shoved the last piece of the protein bar in my mouth as I watched McCoy compare his notes, his gaze looking deep in thought. He had clearly found something and my stomach grew tight with anxiety over it. I was no longer eager to see what new news he would be delivering, now only looking forward to the possible chance of a cure. The sharp click of his tongue told me that was the exact opposite of what he found today.

"Penny for your thoughts, McCoy?"

"Mm. I'd like to run those tests before I give a full answer," he admitted gruffly as he sat back, running a clawed hand through his mane as he looked on. I stood and gave him a reassuring pat on the arm, trying to keep my motivation from dropping at the look of stress that lined his face.

"Well let's get goin' bud. Momma wants to hear what terrible secrets her blood is holding!" I joked grimly, giving him a warm smile to sell my sarcastic enthusiasm. He shook his head with a faint smile and wheeled his chair to a different section of his desk in search of something. I watched with curious eyes as he pulled out a contraption that looked similar to an iPod, wires hanging off with a bundle of black patches in his other hand. I could only guess where this was going.

"Relax, it's an invention of mine. SImilar to a *Halter monitor this will record your bodies varying levels while we do the testing. Energy levels, strength, the works. I want to push your body to the limits today and see how far we can go. Are you alright with this?"

"Sounds kinky. I'm in."

"Nina..." I could tell he wanted to chastise me for my comments but would get nowhere with it, instead beginning to place the fancy looking adhesive patches on my arms and neck. He turned away to give me privacy to place the remainders on the restricted areas of my chest legs. By the end I looked like a child had gone hog wild on me with them, an amused smile appearing on McCoys face at the sight of me. "Who said the science field couldn't make a fashion statement?"

"Go on, get your giggles in," I smirked as he took to connecting wires, connecting strange bands around my arms and legs where the wires would be impractical for movement.

"No time for that, are you still feeling alright?"

"A little stiff now, but I trust your _trials_ will change that." I joked as I stretched lightly. He held a tablet in his hand and hummed as he went over my vitals, making sure each patch placed was responsive and delivered the information he needed. The method Stoma and I had taken was drastically different, but he also didn't have the equipment that McCoy had under his fuzzy belt. There were also fewer wires and more trial and error involved with Stoma, like everything he did, making me wonder how different the tests variations would be here.

"Are you guys still going by that lame 7 level rule?" I asked absentmindedly as we now took to the corridor once more, each time a little closer to that sweet X-Jet that I was dying to see, and yet still so far from. McCoy chuckled at my question and nodded.

"We are. It's an easier method, a good middle ground."

"That sounds fake but okay."

He shot me a judging side-eye as he directed me into a much larger room filled to the brim with gym equipment ranging from varying weight lifting contraptions to cardio machines and more. Beyond the equipment, more sliding metal doors lead to what I could only imagine were for special training rooms. A feeling of bittersweet excitement filled me at the sight of it all. I used to love working out, lifting weights was essential for me to have stronger, durable ink attacks. Now looking at a treadmill made me want to lay on the floor and ignore all sense of motivation. That, unfortunately, was not an option as McCoy directed me to one and gave it a hearty pat. "We'll start here. I want to see how your momentum has adjusted since the substance has entered your system, are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," I mumbled halfheartedly as I took to a light jog, face already burning from the professor watching me. I was never a fan of people watching me work out, today was no different as I watched him reach forward to increase the speed. Thirty seconds later I watched again as he increased it, my pace increasing with every new level introduced. He watched with awe as ten minutes later I was at a full-blown sprint, my breathing heavy yet controlled. Something inside me felt alive, more alive than I had felt in a long time and I didn't want to let go of it.

_I wanted more._

"Okay Nina, I think that's enough for right now, you've shown me what I needed to see," McCoy announced as he reached to slow me down, my hand shooting forward to slap it away. My eyes grew wide with shock at my actions, unsure what caused me to do that other than the desire to keep running. I opened my mouth to apologize and found myself unable to speak, that familiar voice grim voice emerging into my thoughts and clouding my head.

**MORE!**

It was louder now, more demanding. I ignored the professor's bewildered face and began turning the levels up myself, some part of me determined to keep this feeling going. My lungs began to burn as I finally hit my limit shortly after, McCoy's voice growing louder to stop but the urge to keep going surpassing his demands.

"Nina, I said that's enough!"

**NO**

At this point, my lungs were on fire and my legs were beginning to feel the pressure that I was putting on them but I continued to run, unable to stop myself. The air around me suddenly began to grow heavy as the pressure seemed to change before I watched in surprise as a figure appeared in front of the machine out of thin air. It only took one slight falter of my footing from the sudden apparition and to shatter the trance I was in along with my pace, sending me barreling off the treadmill and directly into the wall behind me with great force. My body sat in a heaving heap as McCoy rushed to my side, eyes wide with concern as he attempted to help me sit up. "Are you alright?!"

"* _Mein Gott_ is she okay?!"

The only thing I could muster was a slow nod as I held my head and cursed. I didn't know how I had managed to lose control so quickly like I had, but the sensation filled me with dread as I remembered how helpless I felt as it took over. A sudden pop in the air had me opening my eyes just to stare at two blue blurry figures before me and I squinted with confusion. Maybe I was worse off than I thought.

"I think I might have a concussion because there's two of you now, Professor..."

"No, no you're okay, there's two of us. You can't keep popping up in places like this, Kurt!" he now scolded the figure beside him. I scrambled for my glasses to see the mystery boy McCoy was now lightly badgering, a soft 'oh no' coming escaping my lips instead. My lens lay shattered on the ground next to me while my glasses rested in my hands half broken. McCoy stopped mid-badgering when he saw my expression lower and touched my shoulder. "Oh Nina...I'm sorry, we can fix them."

"It's okay, really, it was my fault for pushing myself..." I trailed, but inside I was devastated. Without my glasses I was as good as a doorstop, I hadn't been able to see clearly since I was a child. Before I could dwell on it more my eyes began to sting, forcing me to shut them tight as that familiar heavy voice rang into my mind.

**WE WILL HELP YOU**

God, I was so, so tired of this invasive voice.

"I don't want your help..." I managed to hiss out shortly before the pain soon eased itself to nothing. Unsure if my angry decline to the offer had been heard I cracked an eye open with hesitation, my shock winning over my anger at the sudden change I was greeted with. My sight was now clear as day and I was able to stare at the two with genuine surprise that matched their own. I couldn't help but gasp in awe as I saw the newcomer finally, a lanky man that couldn't have been much older than me with skin as blue as McCoy's fur, and bright yellow eyes that looked back at me with worry. "You are _awesome_."

"I-Oh. *Danke vielmals..." he muttered softly, revealing a thick German accent as he took a step back to let McCoy help me up. His face was still creased with worry as he looked me over, attention now focused on the wall behind me that I now saw was cracked from where I had hit it.

"Nina, please. Let's get you checked out first-"

"I wasn't directing that at you...I'm sorry. I'm fine, really." I interrupted him earnestly, his eyes sending me a knowing gaze that he understood what I meant, not that it made things easier for either of us. I wanted to be mad, I _should_ have been mad that this voice, this _thing_ , was changing me so drastically. I should have, but I wasn't. I was more fascinated by what was happening around me at this point. We all turned as another body entered the workout room, this time a girl with dark skin and a stellar white mohawk rushing in with a look of worry on her beautiful features.

"What in goddess's name is going on??"

"It was just a testing mishap. Ororo, Kurt, this is Nina Knight. Nina, this is Ororo Munroe and Kurt Wagner, you might know them as Storm and Nightcrawler." McCoy introduced us politely. It took me a moment to process the name but I soon found myself gasping in awe. Ororo was someone that was mentioned quite often because of her insane skill of weather manipulation but I had never seen a face to match the reports. Kurt, however, was a whole new level of mutant that I had not heard of, not to mention another member of the blue team that seemed to increase every time I turned around. Just how many of them _were_ there?

"It's really nice to meet you both!" I started eagerly, reaching out to shake their hands. Kurt reached out to take mine and I couldn't help but give a wide-eyed stare at the sight. Instead of the usual five fingers I saw on everyone else he had three which I shook a little too aggressively in response, my excitement growing the more I got to look at him. His face seemed to darken with embarrassment the more I marveled over his appearance, soon stopping myself as I realized I probably looked like a huge weirdo to be so excited over someone before I turned to Ororo. "I'm so sorry. I haven't met a lot of other mutants..." I confessed as she took my hand and gave me a gentle yet firm squeeze, an understanding nod coming from her as she looked me over, causing my heart race.

"It's nice to meet you as well. You're the talk of the mansion currently." she mused to my flustered face before she nodded toward a large metal door in the distance. "I hate to make this short but we're going to be late for training, _Kurt_." She shot him an accusatory glance before he recoiled slightly, an embarrassed laugh emerging from his mouth.

"I'm sorry! I was trying to make it on time and..." he motioned to me before making a noise of explosion and gave an apologetic smile.

"It's totally fine. It's not every day you get to meet a second member of the Blue Man Group, am I right?" I teased lightly, immediately looking away as no one but McCoy got my joke, his face deadpanning in response. Thankfully he was quick to come in and save my growing embarrassment, his brows furrowed with confusion as he seemed to cling to Ororo's earlier comment.

"Hang on, you said you're doing training _now_?"

"Correct. Cyclops is holding a special sparring session today after our last mission." Ororo explained with some embarrassment in her tone, all of us watching as his frown increased.

"Oh for crying out loud...I reserved the training room for the morning," he grumbled as he started toward the sliding metal doors. We all followed close behind, my curiosity growing as we got closer. Who the hell was this Cyclops guy to overrule someone like McCoy, who looked like he could easily tear someone in two if he weren't such a gentle giant? I couldn't wait to see the guy with balls big enough to pull this kind of stunt.

Kurt wandered close and shot me a shy toothy grin before running his hand through his hair. "I hope it's not rude of me to ask, but what is a Blue Man Group?"

Christ, I felt old.

I opened my mouth to answer only to turn my attention to the metal door sliding open. My excitement to see the troublemaker was overpowering at this point, only to fall short as I saw the familiar ruby colored shades face us. "Oh come on."

Scott Summers turned to face us at my words, a group of teens donning their x-men suits standing behind him while Colossus, Yukio, and Ellie stood off to the side looking confused at the group. He met my gaze and scowled, clearly as annoyed to see me as I was to see him after our last uncomfortable encounter.

"Is there a problem?" he asked shortly, McCoy clearing his throat to direct his attention away from me. I looked over to meet Yukio's excited gaze as she shot me a wave which I returned readily. Both Ellie and Colossus sent me small nods as they saw the motion, suddenly making it very easy to see that they had a close mentor/mentee relationship. I now drifted back to McCoy and Scott who were going back and forth throughout this and frowned.

"Scott, I have this room reserved for the morning for testing, you _know_ this."

"The team needs to practice combat before our mission today. Can't you sacrifice a few hours?"

"I can't, the situation may be more important than I originally thought..."

"Aren't there like, a million other training rooms you can _spar_ in?" I added quietly before Scott shot me a look of great annoyance, ready to pounce on my words.

"You know for someone who's only a visitor you seem to act like you know a lot about this place."

" _Scott_." McCoy started, silenced by my sudden laughter.

"That's _rich_ coming from the guy who acts like he knows how to fight when he can't even teach his students properly."

"Excuse me?"

"Did I stutter? Or are you having difficulty hearing me with that giant stick up your ass?"

" _Nina_!"

I watched as Colossus started towards us now with discomfort on his face, clearly ready to try and diffuse the situation. "Maybe we find middle ground to meet at instead?"

"Do you even know how to fight?" Scott started at me again, completely disregarding the gentle giant's request. I couldn't help but narrow my eyes at the question. Did I know how to fight? I didn't spend the entirety of my high school nights sparring with the local kickboxing community to NOT know how to fight. And I certainly didn't spend the years after in a women's MMA fight club because I was deadset on having skills good enough to protect the ones I loved around me.

But did I know how to fight?

"Nah. Care to show me?" I asked with faux interest as I closed the gap between us, now looking up at him with curious eyes. He studied me with rising suspicion before looking over to McCoy who in return looked at me with a knowing stare.

"Nina, I _really_ don't think this is a good idea," he admitted as he watched me begin to stretch, my body still sore from the earlier mishap but oddly still ready to go. I shrugged at his warning, knowing in my heart of hearts he was probably most definitely right. My curiosity to see how strong Scott was to be acting as pompous as he was currently was strong NOT to be stubborn though. Plus I just really wanted to lay a hit on him for being so annoying.

"Relax, combat is one of the tests you wanted to see done anyway, right? What's the worst that could happen?"

"...I'd rather not answer that. Go on, then. Children, with me." he called softly as he began to the side of the training room with the small group of teens following suit, his face already filled with regret. Yukio shot me an encouraging thumbs up as she and Ellie rejoined Colossus and the others, leaving me standing in front of everyone with Scott. I watched with innocent amusement as he readied himself to strike and looked to his class.

"Now, with close combat, you want to exploit every advantage over an oppon-"

Before he could finish I shot my hand out and got him directly in the throat, watching him fall back and emit a terrible wheeze. Ellie emitted a snort of laughter before Colossus shot her a serious gaze and then one to me, my face growing hot with guilt at the sight. I didn't regret what I did but seeing that look certainly made me think twice on how I handled the situation. I looked down at Scott and gave him a look of pity as McCoy rushed over with concern on his face.

"Nina, this is exactly what I was talking about!"

"He said himself to exploit every advantage, it's not my fault he talks too much." I shrugged innocently, Scott shooting me the dirtiest look he could muster in his current state before he was helped up by McCoy. He motioned for Ororo and Kurt to come to his aid, each taking a side and heading out of the metal doors to what I could only assume was to get first aid.

McCoy now stood over me with a scowl on his face at my actions.

"I know you think this is all fun and games but you can't just go around doing things like that."

"It was just _Scott_. He was being a dick to you."

"Scott may be difficult to deal with at times but you need to work _with_ him instead of _against_ him." he scolded me, a frown forming on my face. I wanted to argue against him but he was doing so much for me, especially now that Stoma wasn't able to be here. I rolled my eyes finally and sighed, nodding reluctantly as I did so. 

"Fine. I will _try_ to do better, okay? Does this mean the sparring over then?"

"Not quite. You punching someone in the throat isn't exactly an indication on how well you can fight."

As much as I wanted to disagree he had a point.

"I can help!" Yukio suddenly volunteered to my bewilderment, a familiar discomfort rising in my chest quickly at her excitement. While I had no problem making Scott feel like an idiot, fighting against Yukio felt like I was about to up against an adorable kitten. She released her hand from Ellie's, who also seemed to share some unease, and now stood next to me with a warm smile on her face.

"Yukio was who I had originally planned to have your testing with. You both scored fairly high in the combat ranking so I'm interested to see how you'll do against one another," he explained as I stared with some confusion, intimidation steadily rising after hearing this. I still didn't know much about Yukio, other than she was as sweet as sugar but as mischevious as her girlfriend. Now that I thought more about it I didn't even know if she was a mutant. I guess now was as good a time as any to figure that out.

McCoy checked all of my patches and vitals once more before giving the OK to go ahead, my face burning as Colossus began speaking to the remainder of the students there. I _had_ just sucker-punched their teacher out, it only made sense that he would take over. I just wish he didn't study us so intensely as he did so. I looked to Yukio and sent a nervous smile her way, her hand reaching out to mine for a friendly shake before she grew closer to me, looking from Colossus to me and winking. "Don't go easy on me, he thinks fighting is impressive!" she whispered before taking her spot across from me.

"Wait _WHAT_?" was all I could muster before she readied her stance and heard Colossus give the okay to begin. She lunged at me in an instant, ducking quickly and sending her fist out to make direct contact with my chest that sent me staggering back in shock. She was faster than I had originally imagined and was now using that to her full advantage as she watched me recoil from the pain. It only took seconds before she started at me again to send another punch my way, my arm shooting up this time to block it instinctively, an eager smile forming on her lips as I did so.

She continued to fire off punches at me, her smile quickly fading into annoyance once she realized my only intention in this was to defend myself at this point, unwilling to fire back at her. I don't know why I couldn't, but after already falling into that strange trance from earlier I was now too nervous to go all out like she wanted. My continued defensive demeanor seemed to annoy her even more as she finally delivered series of punches to my sides and one aggressive kick to my front that sent me sprawled on the floor, unable to do anything but groan in pain.

"That's enough, Yukio. You did well." Colossus called to her as she neared me once more. I sat up and shook my head, looking to McCoy who seemed to be intrigued by my closed off combat after how aggressive I had been earlier. He raised a brow to me in a questioning matter but I could only shrug in return.

A frown of disappointment was now on Yukio's face as she helped me up, a frown that I knew was caused by my disappointing performance after she was so eager to spar from the start. I felt bad to let her down like I had, even worse that I was letting myself lose now just to run away from another potential loss of consciousness. I couldn't keep being scared of this creeping dark force inside, I owed myself that much at least.

I had to give it another shot.

"Hold on, can we do one more round?"

Colossus seemed apprehensive as he shared a look of curiosity with McCoy but the two finally nodded when they saw Yukio's face light up like a Christmas tree at my request.

I readied myself once more and watched as she changed her stance, the familiar pit of unease growing in my stomach moments before the okay was given. We now stood at a standstill, both waiting for the other to strike before Yukio finally took the initiative and lunged forward again. This time I was ready for her, my arms now fully blocking the space in front of me as she took a shot at my face _hard_. She really wasn't going to go easy on me. I found an opening on her as she went to punch me again, shooting my leg out to send her back. She looked taken aback for a brief moment before coming back at me, exchanging hits to my forearms until she shot her leg out at me in retaliation. I winced as I felt it connect with my side before I held it and instinctively shot my fist out at her face with my free hand, watching in horror as she hit the floor and crumbled moments after.

"Oh _shit_ , er shoot. Yukio I'm so, so sorry!" I whispered frantically as I started towards her but was stopped. My legs seemed to be frozen with unease when I saw her face grow dark, watching as she stood up on her own quickly. The vibe around her had changed completely, once a happy-go-lucky energy was now more KILL-ON-SIGHT. I shared a look on unease with Ellie who started towards her but was stopped by McCoy who seemed to be studying the situation carefully.

There was now blood running down her nose as she looked at me, a look that struck me to my core as she readied herself for combat once more. I didn't like this at all, I had gotten too into our sparring and now she was ready to make me regret it.

"Now I'm _really_ going all out."

"That wasn't all out?" I protested as I watched in rising panic as she unraveled her belt to reveal that it was indeed not a belt at all, but a whip. A whip that now crackled to life as she cracked it into the air, electricity flowing through it like a giant glowing warning sign. If I hadn't felt like I had fucked up before I sure as shit did now.

"Yukio _no_!" Ellie shouted as she lashed it out, knocking me in the chest and sending me stumbling back seconds before my body went stiff with shock. A wave of pain followed soon after as I struggled to realize what had just happened, a bout of static invading my brain as I watched her get ready to strike again. 

Fear shot through me as I watched the whip soar through the air with the final destination right for my face. I shut my eyes tight and braced for impact, instead feeling my arm shoot up involuntarily to grab it head-on, my body growing stiff once more as I felt my muscles go paralyzed from the current now coursing through my body.

" ** _We're getting TIRED of this!_** " was all I could hear myself growl as I felt my body struggle through the high voltage actively flowing through me, each step I involuntarily made more painful than the last. They were all yelling now, telling us both to stop but I couldn't. The voice inside was no longer inside of me, it _was_ me, now gripping the whip to prevent Yukio from retaliating any more. 

"Nina that's enough!" I could barely hear McCoy shouting to me now, all of them attempting to get closer to us as I continued to let the voltage destroy my system. I wanted to end this, the pain becoming all too much to bear and the voice inside growing too overwhelming to deny. So strong that I couldn't stop myself as I now yanked her forward to send my knee straight into her abdomen. I watched as her eyes grew wide with pain before she toppled to the floor, the electricity stopping as soon she went unconscious.

"YUKIO!"

"Nina!"

**SHE HURT US. SHE HAD TO PAY.**

Everyone was now shouting at once, my ears ringing violently as I struggled to regain control of myself. I couldn't take it anymore. Every fiber in my being screamed as I staggered forward, my body pulsing with pain as the initial shock finally wore off only to feel the brunt force of what I could only describe as a truck coming full force at me moments later. I hit the wall hard and saw stars flash in my eyes, unable to comprehend what happened until I heard Ellie yelling violent words my way. I watched with blurred vision as Colossus had to restrain her small figure, ready to dish out another blast my way in retaliation of what I had done. I couldn't blame her, I would have done the same if my loved one had gotten injured like Yukio had. If only she knew that I couldn't stop that from happening.

In those brief moments, I was just a passenger watching as whatever this growing force inside me was finally taking over and causing chaos.

McCoy was right.

I had royally fucked up thinking I could handle this. I looked at the frightened faces of the students as McCoy tried to calm them, soon rushing to my aid to see if I was alright. The only thing that reached my ears being his muffled voice and the violent ringing of the aftermath of all that had happened. Yukio still lay unmoving in the distance, making my stomach churn with worried knots with what I had done. _Not_ _me_ , I thought as I watched Colossus lift her limp body up and call to the students that still stood frozen to their spots against the wall. _It wasn't me, it wasn't me, it-_

The more I tried to convince myself the more I realized how useless it was to try and ignore the growing elephant in the room. The elephant that had no remorse for making others suffer when things got a little too out of hand. The one that now stayed silent as I was now faced with the repercussions of its actions. The parasite of an elephant that was determined to make my life as miserable as it could muster.

I had to fix this, I was tired of losing this battle and I was running out of time to stop it.

Something had to be done.

 


	8. ((SLIGHT UPDATE!))

**To those that were reading this:**

I just wanted to say a big apology for not finishing!

I was re-reading my work and I honestly was NOT happy with it at all, it was a bit of a mess.

So instead of trashing it straight away I've been working on a big revision for this story and will hopefully have an update on it soon.

Once the new version goes up I will be scrapping this version, so I hope you will enjoy that version instead !!

Thank you for sending your thoughts and positivity for this previously, you really made me smile and want to work harder!

 

Hope you have a good night!

( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ

**Author's Note:**

> So I'll hopefully be uploading at least once a week once I get this train rolling and adding some art for the character concepts and stuff later on!  
> Let me know what you think so far, thank you for reading! ❤


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